Jump Chain Gothic 9 - New Vegas
by gothicjedi666
Summary: While it's not as long as some of my Jump Chain stories it should be a fun read. I worked none stop on it. Normal warnings apply. This story is dedicated to Definitely not Dio.
1. Chapter 1

**Author Note**

This will be a shorter story than most as I actually want to get it finished. I've got lots of unfinished stories on this site so it makes a nice change to be able to post a completed story. Please enjoy and be warned of the adult stuff within the story.

**Fallout - New Vegas Jump**

Budget - 1000cp

Background

Wild Card

Faction

None

Location

Goodsprings

Race

Human

Perks

Ferocious Loyalty - 400cp

Items

Basic Gear - 400cp

Pipboy - 400cp

K9000 Cyberdog Gun - 200cp

Snow Globes - 150cp

Vault 13 Canteen - 100cp

Followers

The Courier - 50cp

Hound Dog - 0cp

**Author Note**

I dedicate this story to Definitely Not Dio who supports me very generously on patron.

**Jump Chain Gothic 9 - New Vegas**

**Part 1**

**Cosmic Warehouse. Outside of Reality.**

I'd written a dozen set ups for this Jump over the past few hours, and now I finally had one that I felt someone happy with. I should be ready to start the new Jump soon, and I was looking forward to exploring this world as while it wasn't a pleasant place it should be a nice change of pace after spending a decade in the world of Harry Potter.

A decade of wand waving and seven years of school left me eager for a more fast paced kind of adventure, with some science fiction in it, and this world should provide it. All I had to do was win the Battle of Hoover Dam and secure an Independent New Vegas, which someone else could rule over as I just wanted some action.

Winning the battle shouldn't be too much work once I'd taken control of the Lucky 38 and the army of bots currently under the command of Mr House. Those bots could be upgraded by some of my harem, and the Lucky 38 would make for a fine command centre as I hunted down the tech and biological samples that I wanted from this world.

I'd have to keep a careful eye on both the NCR and the Legion so that if needs be I could destroy both armies should they start the battle before it suited me. However I should be able to delay the battle for a time by taking control of the leaders, or at least by messing with their preparations, if I needed to.

As for Mr House I'd likely leave him in charge once I'd sorted things out here in the Mojave Wasteland. Sure time would freeze once I'd left, but it wouldn't stay frozen as Jump Chain would end one day, so I needed to leave someone behind who could keep things in order once I'd moved on.

Given that an alliance with Mr House might seem wise, as that would still leave New Vegas independent and the victory assured, but I didn't trust Mr House, and I'd no desire to answer to anyone. I'd had enough of that during the last Jump.

"Ferocious Loyalty" said a voice "That's a lot of CP for just one Perk".

I turned to see Jump Chan, who'd taken the form of sexy female raider, she was half naked, and had spiky purple hair, also she was far too clean and healthy looking to actually be from the Fallout World.

"Since I've got so many companions now its getting hard to spend time with them all" I explained "I need to be sure of their commitment to me in the future even without a close connection to them".

This would be very important in the End Jump, assuming I ever got that far, as I would need to command vast armies and extreme loyalty to me would be required to prevent them from turning to Chaos. Sure I'd been able to lead a lot of people during the Star Wars Jumps, but I'd created most of them, and I'd not needed that many soldiers since I'd only been fighting the minions of the Hutts.

"I added a secure vault as a reward for finishing the Harry Potter Jump" I was informed by Jump Chan "Its a Gringotts style vault, and will only open to your touch. You can use it store your most valuable items".

That sounded cool to me, and I was already thinking about the things I could store within it, but that could wait until I had some spare time.

"I also came here to present you with your new best friend" said Jump Chan as she took out the K9000 gun from thin air "This weapon is actually a cyberdog, except instead of a robotic body in the image of a friendly canine companion, a living dog's brain has been placed inside a machine gun's frame".

Carefully I took hold of the large weapon, it wasn't as heavy as it looked, but I could see normal humans having some trouble effectively wielding such a device.

"I actually got this for the Cameron" I told Jump Chan.

The cyborg, who wasn't in stasis like my other companions, came over to collect the weapon as her software update by now having came to an end.

"For me?" she asked.

Over the Jumps I'd presented my companions with great gifts sometimes using CP sometimes not, but Cameron never asked for anything other than for upgrades that allowed her to do her job better. Yet she'd served me the best, and she'd gotten little in the way of thanks over the years.

"I figured that this was exactly the kind of pet you'd like, and I know you enjoy getting to use new guns" I said to Cameron as she took the big gun "Besides since I have so many companions these days I'd figured that you might get lonely".

Assuming that she could get lonely. I was never sure with my Terminator bodyguard, but this time she seemed grateful judging by the expression on her face.

"Thank you Master" she said.

A cyborg dog for a cyborg girl seemed good to me.

"That's sweet" remarked Jump Chain "You should name her".

Cameron seemed to give it some thought.

"Her name is Princess" she decided.

The name made me chuckle, and the gun made a happy barking noise.

"I gave it infinite 357 Magnum ammunition" Jump Chain informed me "So plenty of Dakka".

Cameron had expressed concern about friendly fire when using weapons that could vaporise someone, as I did have a habit of rushing into combat with my lightsaber. This weapon while powerful shouldn't be able to pierce my personal shield or even my kinetic barriers.

Looking over the K9000 I saw that its canine features included two metallic ears of sorts which were mounted on top of the weapon that move like a real dogs would. Also there was a sniffer mounted on the jar containing its preserved brain, allowing the gun to sense its surroundings. Not that Cameron would need help with this.

"I got you a Cyberhound Mk III military model" Jump Chan was now saying "It has an inbuilt sonic weapon as its bark, and its pretty fierce in melee too".

Hearing this pleased me.

"I got the other cyber dog for the Courier if she agrees to join me" I told Jump Chain "Like a signing up bonus".

Jump Chan took out a notebook.

"About her I noticed that you want her to act as a native guide like Forestwind did in Skyrim" she said "Now she already exists and rather than replace her it will just be easier to change her personality after she gets shot in the head, she won't remember much about herself while keeping her knowledge of all things local".

That would make her useful to me, and since Benny would still shoot her she'd want payback, which I could offer in exchange for joining my group.

"What do you want her to look like?" asked Jump Chan "She won't have family or friends so you don't need to worry about anyone recognising her".

I didn't need to think for long.

"Make her look like Triss Merigold from Witcher" I quickly decided "I don't normally go for red heads, but she's a hotty and I won't be going to the Witcher verse to get the real Triss, even though I'd like to".

I'd had enough of fantasy realms, at least for a good long whie, and if I did desire more magical stuff I could get it elsewhere.

"Done" said Jump Chan "The Courier will be a woman whose lost her history while retaining local knowledge, and she'll look like Triss Merigold. Now she'll want to join you, I can make her desire too, but you have to convince her as she'll still have free will. I'll put in the other details to. Sexually submissive towards men, bisexual, loyal, extensive local knowledge of people, places, and while she won't know everything she'll be able to lead to most of the places you want to go".

That was fine with me.

"You can let her name the dog" she finished by saying "I'll have it find her after you met".

Since we were ready to go Jump Chan clicked her fingers and there was a flash of light.

(Line Break)

**Goodsprings. Mojave Wasteland.**

Looking around I soon saw that Cameron and I were alone, just outside of the town, and it was night. Before long I could see well enough despite the lac of light as I had my pouch of holding on me, which contained sunglasses that gave me night-vision. My Terminator didn't need such things.

Cameron wore a leather and metal outfit with high boots, as well as very tight trousers with low hips. Her midriff was exposed, showing her flat tummy, and her jacket showed off a lot of cleavage, her boobs seemed bigger than normal, the work of a push up bra no doubt.

Her shoulders were padded and while one arm was covered with a sleeve of leather, the other was mostly bare aside from a Pipboy, which she didn't need as I'd installed an inbuilt omni-tool many years ago into her body, it just be part of the image.

On her hips I saw a ten millimetre pistol and a combat knife, a small canteen of water, as well a little medkit, full of Radx and Radaway, maybe even a stimpack or two I imagined. She also had her pouch of holding, which contained many important and useful things.

She carried her new weapon, the K9000, secured in place with a strap over one shoulder, and while it must be heavy that didn't matter to her because while she looked like a petite girl under that appearance she was a deadly killing machine.

As it turned out I was wearing a suit of merc adventurer outfit. I too had a combat knife and a ten millimetre pistol. I also carried a canteen, the special refilling one, a small med kit, and my pouch of holding. This must be the basic equipment I'd paid for during the setup

I also wore a model of Pipboy, which I'd gotten for free upon starting this Jump as they cost nothing for drop ins, and it was a more advanced model than Cameron's but I placed it in my pouch of holding as there was nothing it could do that Cortana, who lived in my omni-tool in a sense, couldn't do much better.

This basic equipment also had been free, so I didn't mind it, but I would be happier once I got into the Cosmic Warehouse so that I could grab some better equipment. Although I had my personal shield emitter in my pouch which should keep me safe for the most part.

I'd have to replicate these outfits, at least the appearance of them, so that we could blend in while being protected. I could then make copies of these outfits made from high tech fabrics that were easy to keep clean and provided much more protection.

Checking my omni-tool I found the air quality and radiation actually wasn't as bad as I'd imagined. Nothing that my gene-enhanced body couldn't handle. My younger wizard body might have trouble so I wouldn't use that form while here.

My trail of thought came to an end when I heard a gunshot. Cameron and I soon found who had been shot. It was the Courier, I knew it to be her as she looked like Triss Merigold, only a Wasteland version. She was dirty, and wore rugged clothing, yet under that there was an attractive woman who would soon be mine.

Reaching out with the Force I could sense that the Courier still lived, and while I was capable of tracking down Benny, and his friends, right now, as they'd left a trail, I would leave that to the Courier once we ran into the gangster.

The Courier still lived, but she was in bad shape so I healed her as best I could with my near-ascended ability. Once she'd fully recovered I'd make her my offer, right now however the Courier needed some rest. I'd take her to the Doc.

(Line Break)

**Goodsprings. Mojave Wasteland.**

Upon entering the bar I heard a man threatening a woman whom I assumed to be the owner of this business, a woman known as Trudy. After the shouting person left I went to speak with the woman who indeed turned out be Trudy.

"Who was that?" I asked.

I could recall a lot of the game, but not all the details as I hadn't played the game in decades and so there was a lot of stuff I didn't know. Which was why I'd gotten Jump Chan to turn the Courier into a local guide.

Sure altering her to suit my needs wasn't the most moral of things to do, but I'd always been more on the grey side of things rather than a good guy or a villain. Besides she'd have a better life with than she would if I'd left her alone.

On the subject of the Courier she was currently recovering at the doctor's place as while I'd undone the damage the Courier needed some rest. She'd been out for a few hours already, most of last night, and this gave me all the time I needed to sort Cameron and I out.

While we still looked the same our outfits were now made of advanced materials that were able to absorb all kinds of energy, including kinetic energy from guns and the kind of energy that came from laser and plasma weapons being fired. Also the material would stand up well to stabbing weapons.

I had my personal shield ready to go so I was the safest person around. The shield would protect me from radiation, a wide array of weapons, nasty creatures and even explosives to an extent. Also my kinetic barriers formed a layer of defence against modern firearms, which were most common type of weapon this world.

"That was a convict known as Joe Cobb. About a week ago a trader by the name of Ringo came into town asking for a place to hide, claiming bad men were after him" the local lady told me "We figured he was in shock, so imagine our surprise when it turned out he was telling the truth".

While I had no real reason to get involved, and I could easily travel to Vegas in my Mako, there was little point being a Jumper if you didn't explore the worlds you went to and get to know at least some of the locals. Besides I did crave adventure and excitement, and the people of this world always needed something doing so there were opportunities for profit.

Not that I cared for bottle caps, I could replicate millions of the things if I needed to, I valued information, rare bits of tech, biological samples, and the opportunity to recruit new companions.

"Where is this Ringo now?" I wished to know.

I figured that he'd be hiding somewhere nearby, and while I could go looking for him this was a small town, much larger than in the game, so I didn't really want to have to go looking as it might take a while.

"He's holed up at the abandoned gas station up the hill" Trudy replied.

I'd seen that building already and knew how to get to it.

"What are you going to do about it?" I asked next.

Trudy cleaned a glass with a bit of cloth and then wiped down the counter, much like any bartender elsewhere in the multiverse would.

"Sunny and some of the others might help him if he asks, which he hasn't" Trudy let me know "Personally I hope he sneaks out one night and takes the Powder Gangers with him".

I wasn't quite sure that I remembered who they were. Even my powerful mind couldn't keep the vast amounts of information within it all in order. Not surprising given how much knowledge I'd acquired over the decades of Jump Chain.

"Powder Gangers?" I asked.

Sounded like a bunch of crack dealers.

"Chain gangs really, NCR brought a bunch of prisoners from California to work on repairing the railroads" the local woman let me know "Turns out giving criminals big heavy tools and dynamite wasn't too smart. There was a riot and the prisoners took over the place".

From what I could recall the NCR was the closest thing to a legitimate government this version of the USA had these days. Naturally they'd want to restore the infrastructure. If I'd decided to spend a decade in this world I might do the same. Of course I'd no desire to build another confederation I'd done that on a galactic scale twice now so I saw no challenge in doing so on one small planet. I'd come here for some tech, some adventure, and to find more girls.

"Why not kill Cobb and just be done with it?" I wondered.

Trudy seemed a little offended by the suggestion.

"You mean murder him? Even if he is scum, it's not the right thing to do" stated Trudy "He can bluster and threaten all he wants, it's all he can do".

Given that he had gang backing him, and they had explosives, then they could do more than bluster.

"If you can aid Ringo and get rid of those Powder Gangers, the people around here would see you in a good light, I'd even set you up with a discount" Trudy offered "Some of the others would help if it came to a fight".

Cameron spoke for the first time since we'd entered the bar, she'd gotten ready good at not being noticed unless she wanted to be despite how she dressed.

"Want me to see if I can repair your radio?" she asked.

Trudy passed over the small device without even thinking about it, this made sense as the thing was next to useless given the poor quality of the music it played.

"Sure, seems to be fine on the outside" the woman said "so the problem should be on the inside. I'll pay you a few caps if you can get it working again".

While she did that I ordered a drink, trying out Sunset Sarsaparilla, which as it turned out I didn't like, I did like the Nuka-Cola, and sure it was radioactive if I remembered correctly, I doubted it would do me any harm given how tough I was. I also brought another bottle of each so I could store their patterns in the replicators. I might not like them, but that didn't my girls wouldn't.

"Fixed your radio, turned out to be a loose wire" Cameron told the local woman.

She accepted a few caps in payment, and before long the two of us headed out of the bar to start the quest to defend Goodsprings.

When we arrived at the gas station, I found a gun pointed at me by a man whom I assumed to be Ringo. I held out my hand to keep Cameron back as I was in no danger. My kinetic barriers were the best, and personal shield could be activated with a thought.

"Who are you, and what to you want" he demanded to know.

"I'm not an enemy, if that is what you want to know" I said.

Ringo lowered his weapon, he looked ashamed of himself, clearly he was not the kind of person who went around pointing firearms at people.

"Yeah, sorry about the gun, you can never be too careful you know" he said "Really its for Cobbs I hear he's afraid I'll shoot him from a window before he gets a chance to spot me, and it's true. The real problem started when his Powder Ganger friends showed up".

To me it seemed odd that they were after this one guy when they must have other concerns.

"Why are the Powder Gangers after you?" asked Triss.

"My caravan was returning from a run to California when they hit us, the Gangers, we were headed back to the New Vegas branch of the company" I was told "Not even a warning shot or request for us to lay down our weapon before they shot us up. I managed to take a few of them out before I ran for it. Figure these guys are after me for revenge".

Made sense, but I didn't think that this was just about payback, more likely they wanted to get rid of any witnesses.

"Do you have any plan for dealing with the Powder Gangers?" I asked.

He look on his face suggested that he didn't.

"I plan to lay low as long as I can" Ringo let me know "so long as the town doesn't throw me to the wolves. I got no chance against them on my own".

So far things were progressing as I wished them to, and living these events was reminding me of events in the game.

"Perhaps I can help" I offered.

Ringo did't seem eager

"If it is just the two... sorry I mean three of us, we've got no change" he said "maybe if we could get some of the other townspeople to help, we'd stand a chance".

Already I knew who to try recruiting.

"I'll ask around and see who I can convince to aid us" I informed Ringo.

Before I got to the door he spoke again.

"I'd start with Sunny Smiles, she has been friendlier than most in town" suggested Ringo.

That had been my intention.

(Line Break)

**Goodsprings. Mojave Wasteland.**

I entered the local business again and found the Courier at the bar, she smiled upon seeing me.

"The Doc let me know that you're the guy who brought me to him after I got knocked out" she said "I guess the guy in the checker suit must have missed. But then how I'd get knocked out".

I sat down next to her.

"Actually he shot you in the head" I told the woman "I fixed you as best I could and then took you to the doctor so he could monitor your recovery".

The Courier was understandably confused by this.

"But there's no bullet wound" she said "He must have missed".

I can understand why she'd think that.

"The guy in checkered suit, he's called Benny, he took the Platinum Chip and shot you" I insisted "If you like you can ask him. I know where he's going".

The Courier took a big swig of her drink.

"So you saved my life?" she asked.

I gave her what I hoped was a comforting smile.

"Yes" I then said "I want the chip that Benny took from you, and I imagine that you don't want him to get away with trying to kill you. If he finds out you're alive he might even try again".

The Courier drank some more.

"Look Mister I do need that Chip back, I need to get paid" she said to me "If I go back without the Chip I'll need to pay the company for it".

That wouldn't be a problem.

"If you join my group then I'll pay you as much as you want" I promised the woman "Money is no object. In fact I can offer you a lot more than mere caps".

Once I'd gotten her into the Cosmic Warehouse then Jump Chan would appear and do the whole finger to the forehead thing, which would make this all go much simpler. Perhaps I should arranged this before hand, but it didn't really matter as the red headed woman would be mine.

"So we team up" said the Courier "You get the Chip and I get paid, plus I owe this Benny guy a bullet, and I'll find out the truth about what happened from him before I shoot him".

Killing Benny was fine with me.

"He runs the Tops casino on the Strip" I let the woman know "If you want to kill Benny you'll need guns, caps and backup".

The Courier finished her drink.

"A partnership" she insisted "When this Benny guy is dead then we'll talk about me coming to work for you".

That was fine with me. My new loyalty perk shouldn't take too long to kick in once we'd travelled together for a while and got into some fights.

"First we need to deal with a local problem" I said to the Courier "After that we can get moving. What's your name, I'm Gothic".

The red head shook my hand.

"I'm Triss" she let me know "Or at least that's what my papers say".

Not very imaginative of Jump Chan, but a good a name as any.

(Line Break)

**Goodsprings. Mojave Wasteland.**

After getting the Courier to team up with me, which should develop into a relationship with me firmly in charge, I'd shown her the Cosmic Warehouse so that Jump Chan could do her thing and I'd left Triss to sleep at the Doc's again, who I'd paid for his services.

"Hey there Sunny. I spoke with Ringo last night" I told the woman called Sunny "I want to help Ringo take care of Cobb and the Powder Gangers, and was wondering if you would be willing to help?".

"I'm in" she said.

While that had been super easy.

"Just like that?" I asked.

"I know Joe Cobb's type" Sunny said to me "He claims he and his friends will leave us alone if we turn over Ringo, but he'll come after the town sooner or later".

Wow a human being with common sense, a rare sight.

"If you can get Trudy on our side, some of the other townsfolk might help us, her word carries a lot of weight" Sunny told me "Easy Pete, the old man who hangs out outside the saloon, should have some dynamite that could seriously help us, and Chet got in a shipment of leather armour recently that could go a long way to keeping us alive. Oh and Doc Mitchell might have what we need to keep any of out wounded from dying on us after the dust settles, not to mention patching us up afterwards".

Sounded as I had plenty of people to talk to.

"You think Chet will give us the armour?" I asked.

Somehow I didn't think common sense was plentiful in this world. If it was no one would have nuked it in the first place.

"I doubt Chet would hand over the armour free of charge" Sunny said "so you may end up paying for it unless you can come up with a good enough reason for him to hand the stuff over".

Well I could just replicate some caps.

"How do we get Trudy on our side?" I asked next "She seemed to prefer the idea that Ringo leave town and hoping the Powder Gangers will leave with him".

I considered using the old Jedi Mind Trick, but I doubted the lady who ran this place was so weak of mind.

"She will join us if she thinks we can make the town safer" Sunny assured.

Perhaps if I replicated some 10mm pistols and offered them, once having visited Chet, that would help to convince Trudy of my good intentions. I also figured that this town having a militia would be good for the locals.

"Sounds good, I'll see about getting what help I can" I told the native.

With that said, I headed to Trudy first, as she was closest.

"So, I heard you talking to Sunny" the bartender said "I guess if you feel that it's the right thing to do I can stop you".

I sat down at the bar.

"Sunny is right, sooner or later the Powder Gangers will come against Goodsprings even if Ringo is out of the picture" I told the local woman "I know you are worried about retaliation, but the Powder Gangers will hit this place, they'll need supplies and they aren't the kind of people to pay for them, so you need to deal with this problem now while you've still got Ringo and me to help".

That seemed to work.

"Well all right. I can see you intend to go through with this" she said "so I might as well help you. I'll talk to some people who might be willing to help out. Just make sure we win".

Since I could just replicate some grenades I didn't bother with the old guy instead I headed over to Chet's store next door. After entering the store I got on with business

"Me and some of the townsfolk intend to take care of the gangers" I let him know "and we heard you have some leather armour we'd like you to donate for the cause, and any weapons you can spare".

I'd just replicate more, but I needed the pattern first, and it would be best if people thought the stuff was local.

"Now hold on there. I never voted to take on the Powder Gangers" protested the small business owner "That's a 1000 cap investment you are talking about".

"You'd let them take over the town then?" I replied "I'm sure they'll pay for your goods rather than just taking them".

The man didn't need much more convincing.

"OK, I get what you are saying. I'll supply your militia with armour and extra ammo, but I'll be guarding my store" he said to me "Gotta make sure none of them get into my supplies and use them".

That was fair enough and I dropped some caps on the counter so that it wasn't all a total loss for him.

Then heading out I went over the doctor's place, to pick up the Courier and to have a word with him. On the way I saw that cowboy robot, but I ignored the machine and in turn it ignored me.

"Some Powder Gangers are going to attack the town soon" I let the man know "is there anything you can do to help us?".

The doctor sighed.

"Seems like there is always someone trying to take what doesn't belong to them" he commented "I won't be of much use in a fight, what with my bum leg and all, and my supplies are sparse, but I can give you what I got to spare. I'll need the rest for the wounded afterwards".

I grabbed Triss, who was a bit overwhelmed at this point, but recovering fast, and headed back to the bar, which would serve as the militia HQ so that I could further organise things with Sunny.

(Line Break)

**Goodsprings. Mojave Wasteland.**

After a short, brutal and very one sided fight we'd defeated the small gang of crooks who'd been threatening the town, winning much goodwill, which I cared just a little about, and I doubted it would be of any use to me in the future.

The Powder Gangers had charged the militia, and they'd all been gunned down before they could get close enough to do any damage. Their leader Jacob Cobbs, the only bad guy with a gun, got his head blown off by Cameron, who'd been using princess to great effect.

"Well hello there beautiful" said a machine voice "Wanna make some puppies?".

That had been Triss's new dog the cyber K9 unit which she'd called Buddy, the cyborg dog was flirting with Cheyenne, the best dog friend of Sunny Smiles, who'd come to see us off. Buddy lacked any reproductive organs as far as I could tell so there was no need worry about him knocking up Cheyenne.

"I can't believe you got one of these pieces of junk working" the hunter commented, ignoring the cyborg dog.

This vehicle, a type of pickup truck, that had at one time been powered by a traditional gasoline engine, at some point it had been retrofitted with some type of nuclear turbine system in later decades.

The nuclear engine had stopped working hundreds of years ago, but it had been mostly intact, suggesting that an EMP from one of the nukes much have disabled the transport. Cameron had simply replicated a few spares parts, and then she'd gotten to work fixing the truck so that we could drive around.

"I found it a garage" my cyborg bodyguard told the native woman "Since it had been shielded from the elements most of the damage was superficial".

Sure I could have gotten the Puddle Jumper out of the Vehicle Bay (the star ships didn't work in this verse so if there were any aliens around they'd gotten here without going faster than light) and flown around in that or the Mako, but this just felt right.

"Should get us to Primm" I said.

There was no sense not following the plot, besides there was a cool floating robot in that town I wanted to take a look at. Could be something fun for one of my more tech minded girls to take apart.

"You can come with us if you like" I offered to Sunny Smiles.

Really there was no limit to the number of companions I could have, and she didn't have to stick with us for long.

"I can't" she answered "Someone needs to take care of the Geckos".

Given that the town had a militia they should be able to take of themselves, but I wasn't going to press the issue, it wasn't as if I lacked for women in my harem.

"I'm sure we'll pass through this way if you change your mind" I said before Cameron started up the truck "Bye Sunny!".

People waved as we drove out of the town and headed for Primm. We'd made a lot of sort of friends while here so I felt sure that they were sorry to her us go, but go we had to as there was much to do here and little time to do it in.


	2. Chapter 2

**Jump Chain Gothic 9 - New Vegas**

**Part 2**

**Primm. Mojave Wasteland.**

After the three of us, five if you counted the two cyber dogs, left the truck outside of town, I used a Disillusionment Charm to hide the truck with my magical sceptre rather than my more fragile wand which remained inside the Cosmic Warehouse.

The sceptre was a special rod made of ebony from the land of Skyrim, and hollow enough to have a small amount of phoenix ash inside it. I'd topped the sceptre off with a Heart Stone also taken from the land of Skyrim. It worked just like a wand due to the materials it was made from, only it could handle much rougher treatment.

While my spell didn't make the transport invisible exactly, the spell made things blend into the background like a chameleon, it wouldn't work if the truck was still getting driven about, but parked it might as well be invisible.

"What are you doing here? asked a NCR solider as we entered the town "Primm is off limits to civilians!".

I was amused by the idea that this guard might try to stop me. Poor sod.

"Why would Primm be off limits?" asked Triss.

"Some of the prisoners who escaped the prison took over the town" we were told "Everyone is either dead or in hiding in the town. Safer for you to head back to Goodsprings".

He pointed back the way we'd come. Not that we'd go that way as we had somewhere that we needed to be. The Lucky 38 casino awaited us.

"Shouldn't you guys be protecting the town from a mess you made?" enquired Triss.

I could sense that the solider did feel guilty.

"We'd like to, but they don't fall under our jurisdiction" replied the solider "and even if they did, we're in no condition to help anyone. We just don't have the equipment or manpower to take them right now".

The man had a bit more to say.

"Look, I think you should talk to Lieutenant Hayes" he said "He's the one in charge, and you can find him in his tent. Just stay on the west side of the overpass if you don't want to get shot to hell".

We went and did that. I hadn't decided what to do here yet so we might as well talk to some of the locals.

"I'm looking for Lieutenant Hayes" I said, once we inside the tent.

An officer came over to us.

"Yes, I'm Lieutenant Hayes, 5th battalion, 1st company" he introduced "What can I do for you?"

Triss stepped forward.

"I was wondering what it is you are doing here?" the Courier "since it appears you are letting convicts run around killing and robbing people".

While I'd written the Courier to be sexually submissive to men she was turning out to be rather feisty when she has her clothes on. Hopefully she would be more well behaved when I'd started fucking her, but maybe just with me as I liked her having some spirit.

"We were sent here to hold back the tide of convicts that escaped the prison north of here" Hayes let us know "but we aren't exactly doing so good in that regard. It turned out that the convicts were better armed than we were led to believe. I've tried to get more men and firepower, but shit... things are just moving too slow"

No doubt the bureaucrats were to blame.

"The crooks in town, they've got guns they took off the guards and any travellers since the escape" the officer said next "plus the dynamite they were using to blast boulders with. Luckily, they don't seem to be affiliated with the ones still hanging around the prison, so at least they aren't getting any extra support".

It wasn't odd for large gangs to split into smaller groups under different leaders. Give them enough time and the Powder Ganger gangs would kill each other, but not before harming a lot of other people.

"We can take out the gang bangers in town" I said.

The officer wasn't convinced of this.

"It's your funerals" said Hayes "But I wouldn't try it".

We made our way to the bridge which led to the rest of town, Cameron had to disable 3 mines before we could cross over safely, her machine hands made her well suited to the role, and it wasn't as if she'd sneeze at the wrong time or something like that.

Not long after crossing over we found ourselves in a gunfight with a pair of escaped convicts. My Terminator gunned them down before Triss or I had to fight.

Then while making sure there were no more of them on the streets we headed into a building across from the Mohave Express outpost. Once inside we were greeted by a wrinkly old man.

"I don't know what possessed you to come visit Primm" he said "but best you leave while you still can"

There was no need for us to do that.

"We already saved one town from these escaped convicts, may as well make it two" I said.

The old man didn't seem impressed.

"I've got business with the Mohave Express outpost here in town" said Triss.

Now the old man lowered his gun.

"Name's Johnson Nash, been living here in Primm with my wife Ruby Nash for eight years now" he told us, as if we cared "I'm primarily a trader, and run the Mohave Express outpost you are so interested in".

Triss showed the old man some sort of paperwork.

"I'm a courier with the Mohave Express. I 'lost' a package I was supposed to deliver here" she said "And by 'lost' I mean it was stolen from me".

After handing over the order Nash read it over.

"Yeah, I know this delivery" he told the Courier "Had strange written all over it, but we couldn't turn down the caps".

"Strange how?" Triss wondered.

While I'd told her all about the Platinum Chip, such as why Mr House desired it, it seemed that the she didn't totally trust me yet, and wanted more information about was going on, which was wise, and I knew that she'd come to trust me soon enough.

"A cowboy robot hired six couriers, each carrying something unusual. A pair of dice, a chess piece, your casino chip, that kind of thing" Triss was told "Worst part was that the guy who was supposed to bring your chip cancelled on us at the last minute".

Triss sounded confused.

"He cancelled? That is rather unusual" said the Courier "Most couriers are hired on their reputation, why would he risk his?".

Nash shrugged.

"He got a strange look in his eyes when he saw your name next on the list, asked if it was for real" he let Triss know "I told him that I was as sure as lack of rain that you were still alive and kicking. Then he immediately turned it down, so I asked if he was sure, after all it was good money. He said he was, and had a look like the Mohave would sort you out. Then he up and left".

This other Courier must have known what he would have been carrying, or at least known how much danger he'd be in if he took the job.

"Do you know who he was or where he went?" Triss wished to know.

"No idea, but I got the feeling the two of you had some kind of history, of the bad variety" warned Johnson "I'd stay well away from him if I were you".

Sound advice.

"The package got stolen by a man in a checkered suit who was hanging with some Great Khans" Triss told Nash.

This range a bell.

"Now that you mention it, one of the townies was out scavenging saw a man in a checkered suit with some Great Khans passing by" Nash said "They mentioned something about a chip".

Triss was pleased by this news.

"I'm going to hunt down the checkered suit guy and get the package back" she promised.

Hopefully she'd keep accepting my help with that until I had her loyalty.

"In that case, you'd want to speak with Deputy Beagle" Nash suggested "When your friends came to town, he was skulking around the Bison Steve taking notes on them, but he got captured by the gangers. Deputy Beagle is the closest we got to law enforcement in town now, so rescuing him would go a long way to helping. But Beagle only got the job cause he was the brother of the wife of the sheriff. Still, we would have paid the ransom if we had the caps".

Yes they would need a new sheriff I might do something about that, or more likely I'd like Triss handle it as I did need to earn her trust and she seemed to want to help.

"Stay here" I instructed Triss and Buddy "Cameron and I will deal with the gang bangers at the hotel".

I needed some action.

(Line Break)

**Primm. Mojave Wasteland.**

I moved quickly to rescue Beagle from the Bison Steve Hotel. I didn't really care about him, I just wanted to stretch my fighting muscles.

Once inside the hotel I quickly engaged in combat with a convict, putting a few bullets into his chest with my replicated 10mm. The sound attracted another one, who I dispatched with the same 10mm his friend died by.

Soon we proceeded deeper into the hotel, quickly coming into contact with another convict, killing him before he gets a chance to fight by putting a bullet between his eyes.

"Too easy" I muttered.

Entering the hotel kitchen I spotted the bound deputy, who I moved towards while keeping an eye out for potential threats. Cameron would watch my back, but that was no reason to be sloppy, not in a place like this.

"You must be Deputy Beagle" I said to the bound man "Lucky for you a friend of mine wants the info you have on some people that came by recently".

I ungagged him.

"Well, I'd be mighty grateful if you were to free me from my current predicament" stated the bound deputy "these binds are mighty tight".

I cut the man free using my combat knife.

"Thank you. I think I'll make my way outside" said the deputy "the air in here doesn't agree with me".

I let him go, knowing that I could find him again later, and moved to take on the remaining convicts, and as it turned out they were prepared for me as when the door to the dining hall opened I saw that one of them had flamer which launched flames in our direction.

This might seem very dangerous, however I had the near-ascended ability to control fire so I simply stopped the flames before they could touch me. I barely felt any warmth. When the flames stopped the crook had just enough time to look at his weapon, as if it was the device's fault, before Cameron gunned them all down, her gun barking happily as the crooks died.

I didn't bother looting the bodies as I knew that they'd have nothing I wanted. I might bother to loot energy weapons for my tech minded girls to tinker and improve upon later with later, but these guys didn't have anything as cool as that.

"Let me take care of the rest" said Cameron "You should go find the Deputy and get the information that Triss desired".

That seemed like a good idea so I headed outside before Beagle could get too far.

(Line Break)

**Primm. Mojave Wasteland.**

"Even with the gangsters gone it looks like we need a new sheriff" said Nash once I'd told him what had happened "I'd suggest asking those NCR boys across the bridge, or finding this ex-sheriff I overheard was in the prison.

I'd let Triss decide since it didn't matter to me.

"Let's get a room and rest" I said to the Courier "I got Beagle's holotape with the info you want. Not that you need it".

She'd come to trust me in time, but for now I just wanted to get some sleep so I paid for a room and the girls followed me upstairs. The room was clean, at least by local standards, but I wouldn't be lying on the mattress in here.

"There's only one bed" Triss pointed out.

This wouldn't be a concern.

"I don't sleep" said Cameron.

Using the portal, a way of entering of the Cosmic Warehouse that didn't require a door, that I'd totally forgotten about until Jump Chan reminded me during my time at Hogwarts, I quickly got my hands on a special tent and brought into the room I'd rented.

Like the tent used by Arthur Weasely at the world cup this tent was much bigger on the inside, and because this was a much more expensive version, it made the Weasley tent look like a cloak on sticks. The inside of the tent was lie a luxury apartment with a few bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom, and even a small kitchen.

"Wow" said Triss "I sure did the right thing partnering up with you".

Indeed she had.

"There's a shower through there" I said while pointing "You'll find a bathrobe in there to wear until we get you some proper clothes".

Triss eyes widened.

"Showers are a waste of water" she said.

Hearing that made me smile.

"This tent is magical" I explained "It has infinite hot water showers".

Even with my experience with the supernatural I didn't understand how that worked.

"Go shower" I ordered.

I then moved over to the bed and told Cameron to come over to me. She placed her new best friend on a table and did as I wished.

"Yes Master?" she asked "What can I do for you".

"Strip" I commanded.

Cameron took off her jacket, that in a moment ended up on the bed, then off came her shirt, and she threw it to the ground. After that as I undressed she took down her leather pants, and removed her panties very quickly. She wasn't wearing a bra today, so her breasts were soon exposed and she cupped her breasts in her hands.

"I want you my master" she said "I need it inside me. Please fuck your sexbot".

As she spoke I freed my hardon from the boxers it had been imprisoned in. As soon as my dick was out she gripped it in her hands, stroking it tenderly.

"Is this what you need?" I teased her.

She nodded.

"Yes I need it so bad" she pleaded.

She looked very eager right now.

"Get on your knees and suck it!" I ordered.

Cameron obeyed. She took my cock into her mouth and she forced my manhood deep into her throat. I then clutched the back of her head with both hands and fucked her face. A human woman would be choking at this point, but my Terminator just looked up at me as I used her for my pleasure.

The pleasure was great. The warmth of her mouth, the tightness of her throat, the sensation of my cock sliding against the ridges of the roof of her mouth, it was all amazing. I enjoyed the moment, and the level of power I had over her.

Cameron would do anything I wanted. She slaughter anyone I wished, go where I told her to, do what I commanded, as it should be.

"On the bed" I commanded "Get on your hands and knees"

Cameron crawled on the bed and spread her legs wide. I moved over and pulled her ass cheeks apart as I inspected her fuck holes, which like the rest of her existed to protect me or please me. These parts pleased me.

I rubbed the head of my cock against her pussy, noting how wet she'd quickly become.

"Do you want this, you slut?" I wished to know.

Cameron would never take offence not matter what I called her. She'd perform the most degrading sex acts without a word of complaint.

"Yes," she responded "I'm a fuck toy for you use".

I liked hearing that.

"Beg me for it," I ordered.

She did so.

"Please, Master" she began by saying "Please I need sex so bad. Please, hurry up and fuck me!".

The desperation in her voice sounded so genuine that I shoved my cock into her pussy and began to fuck her without any delay. My hips jerked back and forth as I pumped into her tight, cyborg pussy. She was unbelievably tight, she always had been.

Terminators were suppose to age, or at least their outer organic parts did, Cameron being a Jump Chain created item remained in good shape despite the years and decades that had gone by.

As we fucked I could feel the walls of her vagina squeezing me. Her pussy gripped my cock like a velvet covered fist. I leaned forward to gain better leverage, as I pushed myself into her, allowing the weight of my body to drive my cock deep into Cameron's pussy.

"Do you like that, baby?" I asked

Her moans and grunts suggested that she did.

"Yes, Master. Yes, please, cum inside your willing sexbot!" she pleaded.

As we fucked I picked up the pace. I desperately wanted to cum by this point. I felt the need to use her, and Cameron did mind at all, as I filled her cunt, she even thanked me for doing so.

Finally, I pulled out and laid on my back, exhausted from the frantic fucking.

"Well that was a heck of a show" said Triss.

Neither Cameron or I cared that she'd been watching. Buddy, who'd remained outside the tent with E-DE, must of heard it all. I felt no reason to be embarrassed.

"Do you want a turn?" I asked.

She blushed, just a little.

"Benny first, then you can spread my legs" she said.

Seemed fair to me. I might be able to press the issue, but I saw no need given that Cameron was able to met my needs.

(Line Break)

**Primm. Mojave Wasteland.**

The bot called ED-E was an Enclave eyebot from the East Coast. I'd already fixed up the bot and downloaded its information onto my omin-tool. According to the databanks the bot was built at a place called Adams Air Force Base. ED-E was a prototype duraframe model.

ED-E and its fellows had been enhanced for regular combat as opposed to the original model, which functioned primarily as a mobile radio transmitter. However, since the war of 2277, when the Enclave necessitated an increased production of the Hellfire armour, Eyebot production was halted, making ED-E the last known model to produced.

At Adams Air Force Base, the creator of this model, uploaded an enormous amount of valuable data on Poseidon Energy and his duraframe research into ED-E's logs, and this data was now mine.

Then the creator dispatched ED-E on a cross-country journey to Navarro, past Rockville, Hagerstown, the Pitt, Denver, Nephi, Zion Canyon, Caliente, the Hub, Necropolis, Lost Hills and San Francisco. That was a long journey.

ED-E's first stop was a hidden Enclave outpost in Chicago where it stopped for upgrades and repairs. After leaving the Chicago outpost and continuing its journey, ED-E was found by a child named Tommy who later convinced his father to take the bot in.

It was at this time that ED-E recorded Tommy finding the bot and some moments with Tommy's family that I could view if for some reason I wished to. After being under Tommy and his father's care for some time it then travelled to and across the Mojave Wasteland, where it was shot twice by an unidentified sniper, dealing a large amount of damage.

This eventually left it deactivated near Primm, where it was found and taken in by an unnamed courier of the Mojave Express, and delivered to Johnson Nash. Unable to repair it himself, Nash left ED-E to languish on the Primm's branch office counter, where it remained ignored even as escaped convicts took over the town.

Now I'd repaired the machine and Cortana was now within it in some sense while also inside my omni-tool. Normally the AI only took over other machines when required as a creature of information not concerned much the physical, but given how dangerous this world was having her control the machine made sense as it would give us another set of eyes, or cameras in this case, and some more firepower as the bot had an inbuilt laser, which I would later upgrade.

"How is it?" I asked Cortana.

The bot beeped at me while a more human sounding voice came from my omni-tool.

"This will do, the bot has some pretty simple programming, at least compared to me" she reported "Still the design is functional and the technology can be improved upon".

There would be time for that once we reached the Lucky 38, for now we had other matters to attend to.

(Line Break)

**NCR Outpost. Mojave Wasteland.**

Since I really didn't care who ended up in control of Primm, as I was already bored of the little town, I let Triss decide if we'd bother getting a new Sheriff or not, and from where. She decided to go NCR Outpost and to request help.

"Go talk to Major Knight" said one of the troopers "He tends to do most of the paperwork related tasks around here".

"Thank you for your time sergeant" Triss replied.

Soon we were heading to the building indicated by the man in uniform. Upon entering, she headed to the desk and asked a question.

"Where can I find Major Knight?" she wondered.

"Caravan, citizen, or pilgrim...?" the officer asked back.

"Courier"

Cameron and I hung back, trying not to be seen.

"Just need something for the log book" he said "I'm Major Knight, what can I do for you ma'am?".

Hopefully things would get more interesting as this part of the adventure was proving to be rather dull.

"I need to talk to you about the situation in Primm" Triss was saying "We managed to kill most of the escaped convicts there, but the town's lawman is dead, so they are looking for someone to protect the town. I was hoping that you could see about getting someone over there to protect the town".

Hopefully it would be as simple as requesting the aid.

"Well, Primm is an important trade route with the rest of the NCR" he said sounding like a reasonable man "I'll get started on the paperwork, we'll have a squad posted there soon enough".

This wasn't all we were here for.

"While I wait, is there anything the outpost needs help with?" Triss asked "My friends here are pretty handy with their guns, and you guys look like you're pretty busy".

Major Knight considered this.

"Ranger Jackson, the man who runs this outpost would be the best person to ask" he said to the Courier "He'll be in the back, but remember, if he comes off abrasive, just remember he has a lot on his plate with the brass back home riding his ass, and not in the fun way".

At this point I took the lead and found the Ranger.

"You're Ranger Jackson, right?" I said "We were just wondering if you guys had any work around here you needed done".

Something to do with massive ants if I recalled correctly.

"Well, looks like someone new found their way to this old Brahmin pen. I appreciate the the offer but we don't..., wait hell, yes I could use a bit of help. My biggest problem is getting the backed up caravans moving again. For that, we need to clear the roads, and we got a bunch of giant ants that need to be eliminated. I'll mark their location in your Pip-Boy. Do that and maybe I can 'accidentally' lose some supplies in your direction".

I didn't carry a Pipboy as I'd given my to Triss, so he used hers.

"Sounds good to me" I said.

Time to go kill some bugs.

(Line Break)

**Nipton. Mojave Wasteland.**

As I parked the pickup truck at the edge of the town called Nipton I could see that parts of the town were actually on fire, and a few moments after exiting our transport we met a crazed Powder Ganger, who kept going on and on about winning some lottery before running off into the desert. Idiot would most likely die out there, but no one cared.

Upon entering the town, we saw impaled heads, bodies burning on piles of junk, and after passing the general store, we could see that a bunch of Powder Gangers had been nailed to crosses that lined the road up to the Town Hall.

They'd been crucified, and this made me angry, as did the other horrors here. They'd killed nearly everyone just to make an example for others. I might not care about most of what was going on around here, but this did upset me.

Ahead of me I could see five men and a pair of dogs, and their leader who had a canine fur hood and wore better armour than the others, the men with their faces covered took up position to the left and right of the leader.

They had their guns pointed at us, but I was not concerned I'd given Triss some kinetic barriers and while her merc outfit, a black and white number, didn't look like it would offer much protection that wasn't case.

"Do not worry, I won't have you lashed to a cross like the rest of these degenerates" said the leader of the wannabe Romans "My name is Vulpes Inculta, and it is fortuitous that you have happened by, as I wish for you to spread word of what has happened here at Nipton to all you come across, especially any NCR troops. Let all who will listen know of the lessons of the Legion".

I stepped forward, and prepared myself for a fight. As a Grey Jedi who'd battled his own inner dark I could call upon the darkside of the Force without much concern, I just preferred not to as it might still somehow corrupt me, but I felt no such concern this time.

"What lessons were taught here?" I asked.

"Where to begin? That we are strong and they are weak? This is already well known" said the soon to be dead man "No we came here to teach them that their degenerate ways will be their undoing, and that the Legion's might is far reaching. Nipton was a wicked place, base and corrupt. It served all comers, so long as they payed. Powder Gangers, NCR troops, even Legion men like me. It was a town of whores. For a pittance, the populace agreed to lead those they had sheltered into a trap. Only once the trap was sprung did they realise they too were caught. I told them they were to be punished for their sins, foremost being disloyalty. I told them when Legionaries were disloyal, some were punished while the rest watched. I announced a lottery, and soon each clutched their ticket, hoping to be free, doing nothing even as their 'loved ones' were dragged screaming and crying to their deaths".

At this point I used the Force to lift the Vulpes Incuta into the air, and now looked as if he was being hanged by an invisible rope. His man took steps back, shocked up the sight, but not for long as they attacked.

Buddy appeared to tackle one of the dogs even as Triss and Cameron opened fire. The few Roman wannabes didn't last long as they were not match for my Terminator, who'd been built to rapidly destroy any threat to me, when not busy sucking my cock. Plus Cortana was doing rather well with her new extension, which came with an inbuilt laser.

Vulpes dropped to the ground, and for a moment he might of thought that he'd live, but he was wrong, I removed his head with my lightsaber. I wanted to torture him, but I resisted the urge to do so.

"Savages" I snarled.

More dogs came pouring out of the town hall, and we gunned them down in mere seconds.

(Line Break)

**Nipton. Mojave Wasteland.**

After deciding to look around for survivors or anything worth looting our first stop was the general store, where we were surprised to find another survivor, a Powder Ganger, one whose legs looked pretty beat up. As we approached him, he spoke up

"What is it this time?" he asked.

Given that he was Powder Ganger I was tempted to shoot him.

"Wow, how did you survive?" Triss asked "By the looks of things here, I doubt you were able to hide from the Legion".

"I'm just that fucking lucky!" he declared "You are looking at Boxcars, the second place winner of the Nipton Lottery. That bastard Swanick took first place, so they let him walk away".

Swanick must have the guy who'd ran into the desert as we entered the town.

"Let me fix that leg" I offered.

With my near-ascended powers I healed the ganger, feeling charitable for some reason, and Boxer simply left without even thanking me. Hopefully he'd reform his ways after nearly dying or at the very least not bother us.

While looking around the town we found things that we didn't need, but took to trade elsewhere, some caps and a few rounds of ammo. We found house had a dead Legion body and booby traps, which Cameron disarmed, having been given information on such things during her recent software update I felt sure. She also took care of the large Bark Scorpions that someone had left caged up their house.

The only thing of worth we found in the entire town was a single battered laser pistol. I had access to much more powerful weapons, but the weapon had value as a memento of this trip if nothing else, and Tali might enjoy tinkering with it.

"Let's hunker down somewhere for the night and pop open the tent" I decided.

While we had the truck, which allowed to speed past most threats, the roads were long and I didn't think that it was wise to travel at night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Jump Chain Gothic 9 - New Vegas**

**Part 3**

**Boulder City. ****Mojave Wasteland.**

Triss was finally coming to trust me, at least enough to come straight here to Boulder City, bypassing Novac totally, not this place has much to offer. Boulder City was nothing more than a ruin, notable only for its proximity to Hoover Dam.

From what I'd learned it was a common resting spot for people on their way to New Vegas and for troops moving to and from the dam. There were not many intact buildings, as once it had been the site of intense fighting between NCR and Caesar's Legion during the First Battle of Hoover Dam. The Rangers lured some of the toughest veteran Legionaries into the town and blew it to pieces with explosives that had been strategically placed ahead of time.

Although this won the battle, the city was almost entirely demolished as a result. After the battle, a monument to the NCR soldiers who fell during the battle was placed in the remains of the town.

The only reason we'd stopped here was so that the Courier could find the two Khans who'd helped Benny to almost kill her. While she did trust me to an extent, she still needed to sort things out for herself, which I could understand to an extent.

Still I had mixed feelings about this. On the one hand Triss was meant to be my local guide, to aid me, like Forestwind had done when I'd been exploring the land of Skyrim, but unlike the Bosmer the Courier was not a creation of Jump Chain, she'd been changed to suit my needs, but she still had a lot of free will.

Until this business was over I'd not be able to control her to the extent I desired. At least this business would be dealt with soon, then we get back on the road, and finally get to New Vegas.

Once we got into town we were stopped by an NCR soldier, much like what had happened in Primm.

"Hold it" he ordered "We have a situation with some Great Khans right now. The brass at McCarran have ordered me to lock down the town until the situation is resolved".

I heard Triss sigh, and I didn't blame for for being annoyed. She was close to getting at least some of the answers she wanted.

"What's going on with the Khans?" she asked.

"One of my patrols was on it's way back from Novac when it came under fire from the Great Khans" we were told "They radioed for reinforcements, but instead of waiting for us, they chased after the Khans into the ruins where they got caught in a crossfire. No deaths, but not all of the squad made it out. The Khans have Private Ackerman and Private Gilbert as hostages".

Actually it might be possible for them to have killed Benny and taken the chip from him.

"These Great Khans might have something to belong to me, a Platinum Chip I was supposed to deliver to a client in New Vegas" Triss said, clearly thinking what I'd just been thinking "I need it".

"Once the Great Khans have been killed or captured, you will be free to claim any property they may have taken from you" the officer assured Triss "You have my word".

That wasn't good enough for her.

"I may be able to negotiate with the Great Khans" the Courier offered "I'm a neutral party, and I'm willing to take the risk".

The officer of course refused, no military man would let a random civilian into a situation like this, so I did a Mind Trick.

"You will accept our help" I said.

"I will accept your help" he said.

Once I'd let go of his mind it had been changed.

"Normally I'd refuse since I have no idea who you are" he was now saying "but if I give the order to attack, my men are as good as dead so I'll give you a chance to talk to their leader, a Khan by the name of Jessup. If I hear shooting, I'm ordering my men to attack, but it'll probably be too late for you".

I should be able to Mind Trick the Khans to. The people of this world didn't see to have any resistance to mental powers despite them not being weak willed.

"Don't worry about us" I said to the guard before turning to the group "Triss come with me, everyone else stay here".

Soon the Courier and I were making our way through the ruins, and I headed over to the building that contained I saw several NCR soldiers in a tense stand-off with a number of Great Khans.

"We're here to talk" I said, raising my hands into the air.

Once inside, their leader Jessup took one look at Triss before blurting out something I wanted the Courier to hear.

"What the hell?!" he yelled "You're that Courier Benny wasted in Goodsprings. You're supposed to be dead!".

She looked at me.

"Okay so you were telling the trust" she said to me "But to be fair it did seem impossible that you healed a bullet to the head".

I couldn't really argue with that. Even with Jump Chan's download then Triss would still find such strange things to be hard to understand and accept.

"Listen guys I'm not dead" she said "And I don't blame you, just give me the Chip and I'll deal with Benny".

The two Khans look a bit guilty.

"Yeah, about that" Jessup was now saying "I don't have it. Benny stole it right before he stabbed us in the back. He's probably back at the Strip, laughing at us".

Again Triss looked at me, and while she didn't speak it was pretty clear that she a bit annoyed about how right I'd been this whole time.

"So, why did Benny betray you?" wondered Triss.

It did seem risky given how dangerous the Khans could be.

"He's a snake, that's why" Jessup said with more than a little anger "He owed us the rest of the pay for the job, so maybe he just didn't want to pay up".

Triss sighed again.

"Alright, let's talk about settling thing between you and the NCR. What will it take to solve this peacefully?" Triss was now asking Jessup "They want their people back".

This was when things could go badly.

"What's there to negotiate?" Jessup asked "NCR backs off, we walk out of here".

Alas it wasn't that simple.

"If you free the hostages now, I can convince the NCR to escort you out of their territory" offered Triss "If they agree I go with you to make sure they don't double cross you".

Why did I have to hook up with a good girl Courier?

"I can't believe I am doing this, but all right, the hostages can go" Jessup said "The NCR better keep their end of the bargain though. Here's a souvenir for you. It was Benny's lighter. Shove it up his ass when you catch up with him".

He passed over the lighter to Triss who tucked it into a pocket.

"Well I was just going to shoot him" said the Courier with a short laugh "but maybe I'll get the chance".

Now having Jessup's assurance that the hostages could go free, we headed outside and saw the Great Khans freeing the hostages. As Triss wanted to make sure the NCR didn't begin attacking once the hostages were clear we headed over to speak to the officer.

"I'm glad you got my people free, but there is a new problem" said the officer "I just got orders to take out the Khans, hostages or not".

This was annoying.

"You will let them go" I commanded.

This time the NCR officer did resist my mental command.

"My hands are tied, I can't go against orders... can I?"

He seemed unsure, so I tried again, knowing that it was simply the easiest way to get past this part of our adventure. I found myself eager to get New Vegas, I wanted to see my other girls and to set up our base of operations.

"You're right. The Khans are free to go" the officer agreed.

After letting the Great Khans know they were free to leave, Triss and I watched to make sure they got out of Boulder City alive. On the way out we ran into one of Mr House's bots.

"Good to see you again Victor. How did you get here?" Triss asked.

He was here because he'd been following us, not that that robot cowboy would have seen much.

"Yup, bit this is starting to get embarrassing, people are going to talk" Victor said with a laugh. "Just rolling along on my spurs, looks like I'll make it to New Vegas after all. Guess it is down to you and fancy pants now. I wouldn't worry about him, he looked all hat and no cattle if you ask me".

Yeah aside from the fact that he be would inside his casino at this point with guards all around him.

"Did you happen to see Benny come this way?" Triss asked "He's the one in the fancy clothes".

"No, I ain't seen hide nor hair of him since the tussle at Goodsprings. I'm sure he ran back to the soft living of New Vegas though" Victor said to her "If you make it to New Vegas, look me up, I'll buy the first round".

"See you later Victor" the Courier said.

With that Victor drove off into the sunset.

(Line Break)

**The 188 Trading Post. Mojave Wasteland.**

Veronica Santangelo waited, she wasn't sure what she actually waited for, but she felt the need to wait here for something to happen. She needed to find something, she didn't even know what it was, yet she'd come out here to find it.

Over time she'd become very irritated by what she'd seen as the Brotherhood's unrealistic and uninformed views of both themselves and the world. Veronica was now a perpetual outsider caught between her loyalty to the Brotherhood and troubling doubts about the validity of their current course.

Veronica had been born and raised in the Brotherhood. Her father was a paladin, her mother a scribe. In her youth she'd fallen in love with a woman, but Father Elijah had split them up for reasons she didn't wish to think about, yet they were always on her mind. Because the Brotherhood was not open to outsiders, many of its members felt that it was their duty to procreate and as such they frowned upon same-sex relationships.

After following the Brotherhood to the Mojave Wasteland from California, Veronica became disillusioned with their goals. The Mojave Chapter's Elder and her personal mentor, Elijah, had changed the direction of the Brotherhood somewhat by dispatching Scribes to recover beneficial technology instead of just weaponry, but after he abandoned the Brotherhood following their defeat at HELIOS One, his successor, Nolan McNamara, upped stakes and holed up in the Hidden Valley bunker, dispatching scouts only to assess the threat posed by the NCR and the Legion.

She felt that McNamara was too much of an isolationist, by hiding away and hoarding technology instead of using it to win favour with the people of the Wasteland, and attract new recruits, he was just going to "wait in a hole for everyone else to die" Only everyone else wasn't dying, in fact civilisation seemed to be growing .

Veronica felt that if the Brotherhood was to survive, things were going to have to change. So she began to speak up about her beliefs, questioning the direction the Brotherhood was taking. Not that many cared to listen.

In order to keep her out of the Brotherhood's hair and to stop her dissent from spreading, the Head Scribe sent her on longer and longer excursions out into the Mojave, allegedly to collect resources.

While out and about she'd started looking for something that might help the Brotherhood, and at least she had plenty of time to find it as the Brotherhood of Steel journeyman scribe had been indefinitely assigned to the role of 'procurement specialist', as such she was responsible for venturing out of the Brotherhood bunker to find and acquire resources that the Brotherhood could not create on its own.

The Scribe was considering moving on, maybe heading to Freeside, when a strange noise reached her ears. She turned and blinked a few times, unsure that she'd really seen what she'd just seen.

It was no illusion, someone had somehow gotten an old pickup truck working, in the back of that truck there was a eyebot and a cyberdog of all things, this were not ordinary travellers. They might be what she'd been looking for.

(Line Break)

**The 188 Trading Post. Mojave Wasteland.**

After visiting the merchants, who didn't have much to offer, I was approached by a hooded woman, with what looked to be a mechanical hand, who appeared somewhat familiar to me.

"If you don't mind me asking" she started by saying "Where did you come from, and more importantly where are you going?".

Now that first part would be a long story to tell fully, it could take up whole novels and no one would ever believe any part of those stories.

"I'm from very far away and I'm going to Vegas" I told the robed woman "My name is Gothic".

At least it was for this Jump, in times past I'd used other names, even if just for a while.

"Hello I'm Veronica, and I live in a hole in the ground" she responded somewhat cheerfully.

"You live in a hole in the ground?" I asked "Do you mean an old Vault, or an actual hole dug in the ground? If it is the second one, you'll understand if I don't accept any invitations to come round for cup of coffee".

That seemed to amuse her.

"Well, a bunker if you want to get technical. I think it sounds more interesting my way" she replied "But I'm not there much anyways. I'm usually out here picking up food and supplies for my family. Whatever they need".

I felt fairly sure that Veronica must be one of the followers you can pick while playing the game.

"So you just leave your family in the bunker?" I heard Triss ask.

Veronica smirked.

"Yeah, I'm not worried" she said "They can take care of themselves. But somebody has to get the groceries, know what I mean? And actually these days I think they'd rather have me out here anyways. But that's a whole other story".

Since there was nothing here of value I figured that it was time to move on. I wanted to be Vegas before nightfall.

"So, listen, can I ask you something on the level?" Veronica asked.

"Go ahead" I offered.

Which she did.

"I had a run-in with a group calling themselves The Brotherhood of Steel. Pretty strange bunch. Do you know anything about them?" Veronica asked "Ever run into them?".

So far I had not.

"I know that they seek out advanced technology" I answered "And that you shouldn't mess with them when they come looking for advanced technology".

Of course I knew much more than that, but this wasn't the time or the place to discuss such things.

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem for me, I can't afford anything like that" Veronica said,

Given her mechanical fist I knew she was lying, but I didn't press her on the issue.

"So you're going to Vegas" Veronica said.

While I had already mentioned this.

"We're headed to The Strip" I confirmed "We have business there".

"There's a man there who stole something valuable I was supposed to deliver" Triss informed Veronica "and I intend to get it back, and make him pay".

Hearing this seemed to please the Brotherhood member.

"Oh, very exciting" she said "Gonna strike it rich while your are there once you have your revenge?".

Oh she had no idea.

"Let's just say that our fortunes will change once we get to the Strip" I said.

I couldn't help smirking.

"Listen I'll be honest, you're the first people I've run across out here that look like they can handle themselves" Veronica was now saying "There are places out there that'd be too dangerous for just me. What do you think? Maybe we could travel together, help each other out".

I looked at the back of the pickup truck, there should be room.

"Long as you don't mind squeezing in the back" I said.

Veronica smiled.

"You'll be glad you brought me along" she promised "And if I turn out to be a burden, we can part ways. No hard feelings".

That suited me just fine. She could useful to me, but given her sexuality offering her a place as one of my companions could be a problem. Still I didn't need all my followers to warm my bed, and as she'd already mentioned we could always part ways later. Perhaps I could get her into a girl on girl situation with one of my companions, and then watch for my own amusement. I'd have to earn Veronica's loyalty too, but that was doable.

"Don't you have a family to feed?" Triss asked.

Like me she understood that the Brotherhood could look after themselves, so Veronica wasn't concerned.

"Like I said, they can handle themselves" she said "And I'm not the only one getting supplies for them. It's a big family".

Now I had question.

"What do you want in Vegas?" I asked.

If she was looking for something perhaps I could get it for her and earn her trust that way.

"Really I'm not looking for anyone or anywhere in particular" Veronica explained "I'm just looking to see more of the world. Trying to find a fresh perspective. I want to see how different groups have adapted to surviving in the Mohave. See if there is something I can learn from them".

Well that was something I could provide. She wanted some more from life and if joined my group I could offer that.

(Line Break)

**New Vegas. Mojave Wasteland.**

Without any trouble we'd made to the capital, and while Freeside was a dangerous place the group was large enough to discourage anyone from bothering us. We must have looked like an odd collection of people and not people. Cameron, Triss, Veronica and I blended in well enough, but the cyberdog and the eyebot were getting odd looks.

"You look like you are new to Freeside, so here's a little advice friend" said a man in a suit "Don't go past the South gate greeter without talking to it first".

Given the amount of security bots around that was wise advice.

"Why would I need to talk to it?" Triss asked the stranger.

"Those other robots are programmed to kill anyone who enters the fenced in area without authorisation from the greeter first" the stranger warned.

As we made her way over the nearest bot, a man rushed past us, ignoring the greeter robot. As the man tried opening the gates, the other bots turned towards him and fired at him, turning the guy into a corpse, that the nearest bots soon began to clean up. Not at all a pleasant sight.

When we neared the greeter, it turned around and spoke to us.

"Submit to a credit check or present your passport before proceeding to the gate" it ordered "Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again".

I reached for the duffel bag that I had prepared earlier. Veronica as of yet knew nothing about the replicator or the other stuff I had access to. That would take some explaining or Jump Chan's help so it was a good thing that I'd prepared the bag earlier.

"Hold on I'll submit to your credit check" I said.

I showed the greeter my bag full of replicated caps, and we were allowed through the gates, on the other side we were greeted by Victor, who of course wanted to talk to Triss.

"Howdy, partner" he said "You've come a far way, haven't you? Welcome to New Vegas".

Now that we were on the Strip she was eager to deal with Benny who she understood had actually shot her. I too felt a desire to kill the man as it would signal the end of this part of my adventures in this world. Which had only just begun. Plus he was a jerk.

"Point me to The Tops, Victor" Triss said "I've got a score to settle with Benny, and a Chip to recover".

The bot blocked her way.

"Sorry rambler, I know you're fixing to serve up some vengeance, but I'm gonna have to point you to the Lucky 38 first" insisted the machine "Mr. House, the head honcho of New Vegas, is itching to make your acquaintance. He'll help you serve that cold dish of yours extra-chilly".

The Courier considered this and looked to me. She knew I wanted to take over New Vegas by seizing control of the Lucky 38, but we'd also agreed that she wouldn't join me until after Benny was dead.

"Fine!" she shouted "Let's get those over with and meet with this Mr House".

Not that we'd actually have a meeting.

"Yeehaw! That's the spirit" Victor said.

Then his faced change to that of one of the security bots and he, well it, rolled away. We soon found another of the Securitrons with Victor's face waiting for us at the doors of the Lucky 38.

"Well howdy partner. Boss is waiting for you upstairs, so get a move on!" he said cheerfully "I see you brought some friends! Sorry partner, but they are going to have to stay outside".

I stepped forward.

"There's about to be a change of management" I declared.

My lightsaber cut through Victor, leaving the bot in two pieces on the ground. The other bots opened fire, but at this point it was too late as Cameron and ED-E had already opened fire.

The doors didn't last for long I used my powers to force them open and then with the Force I rushed in. Moving like a blur I cut down two more bots, which someone would have to repair, and then called the elevator.

House was able to stop me from getting to the Penthouse by making the lift stop too soon, but I climbed out of it, and then climbed to the penthouse floor. When the door opened I took some fire, but my personal shield prevented any damage.

The bots didn't get to fire much as I used my control over technology to shut them down, not as fun as fighting, but I would need the droids for the army, it wouldn't do to destroy too many of them.

With the coast clear it was simple enough to hack into the control panel with my omni-tool and let Cortana take over. Mr House's face vanished as the system rebooted.

I'd done it. I'd taken control of the casino and now the real work could begin.

(Line Break)

**Lucky 38. Vegas Strip**

Veronica was now sleeping on one of the couches within in the penthouse as she recovered from having a lot of info dumped into her mind by Jump Chan. As for the rest of my girls they were spreading out all over the casino, securing it and exploring the place.

Soon they'd begin installing the upgrades and the new equipment that would be required to order to turn this place into the vibrant nerve centre of our operations here in the world of Fallout. Not just defences based on technology, but also magical defences that Hermione Granger would put up.

She was one of the two witches had I'd recruited during my time at Hogwarts, the other being Luna Lovegood, who wasn't a Seer like Morgana as I'd first suspected, but she did have an interesting way of looking at things that I sometimes found useful. Plus she was rather fun in bed.

I'd made efforts to recruit others during my time with the wand wavers, but I'd had little luck as most of them had been too emotional invested to be separated from their friends and family even those people wouldn't even notice that they were gone, and I hadn't tried too hard as I had plenty of companions already and plenty of Jumps left. Besides so many of them had been inbreed idiots.

"Are you in control?" I asked Cortana.

Her unmoving face had replaced that of Mr House, and while this amused me somewhat I would have to replace the crude monitor with a proper holographic projector at some point.

"I've taken control of all the bots and this casino" she informed me "And I've isolated Mr House from the system. He's an induced coma right now and I can keep alive, but he could do with a medical checkup if you want him to take over".

At some point I'd install an EMH and let that guy fix up Mr House, or more likely have Tali do it, as I didn't want the guy to die. In fact I was going to make his dreams come true by giving him the independent state he desired. As a bonus I wouldn't bother taking out most of the tech installed in the casino, he could make use of at least some of it.

"Good work" I praised the AI "Once I have the chip you can install the upgrades to all the bots, and we'll have the army required".

I'd have to go to Legion base and activate the bots there as we'd need the numbers, but my tech girls could upgrade many of the bots that were here, and give them superior weapons, maybe even shields.

We'd need to get a satellite into orbit so that we could keep track of everything going on in this part of the world. Also I wanted probes flying about so that this entire wasteland could be quickly mapped. There were a lot of exotic things out there for my group to recover, bits of tech and such that I wanted to find, and should soon be in my Cosmic Warehouse.

Since I would also need to deal with the different groups here in the wasteland it was a good thing that I had so many companions as I wouldn't be able to met with all of them and gather the special items. Thankfully my girls could handle many missions for me. I had a group of very skilled girls at my command.

All of this would keep me occupied until the Battle of Hoover Dam, which my army of bots would win, thus completing the scenario.

"Gothic" said a voice which ended my trail of though "Remember we have a deal. Benny and then I join you".

I'd need her help, and I wanted her loyalty, which she'd only freely give once her own personal business had been dealt with.

"Okay let's deal with Benny" I said "You'll need some backup and weapons that stun people, no need to slaughter the folks working at the Tops just because Benny is a scumbag".

I'd bring Cameron along as this was just the sort of mission she'd excel at.

(Line Break)

**Tops Casino. Vegas Strip**

"I fine, Benny just didn't know when to shut up and keep it in his pants" Triss said to her companions "Just let me clean up, I've got blood and pieces of Benny to clean off me"

The Courier then moved to the bathroom to wash her hands, and ended up talking to Mr Yes Man while leaving Cameron and Gothic outside. Her revenge against Benny hadn't taken long, but it had been bloody. They stunned everyone and then brought Benny to his room so she'd be able to question him in peace.

Upon flashing the Platinum Chip, Yes Man saw it and began to speak about things that actually interested the Courier.

"If I were you, I'd almost want to give the chip to Mr. House just to learn all it's tricks! That is, unless you want to bring the NCR or Legion to power" said the machine "I wouldn't want to tell you what to do".

She'd known it was important, and that Gothic, who'd already overthrown Mr House wanted it, but she hadn't fully understood why it was important. To be fair she'd been shot in the head a few days ago and since then she'd had a lot of strange experiences.

Triss looked at the Chip, and decided to give to Gothic, he'd fixed her up after she'd been shot, and he'd helped to get payback on Benny. Now that this over with and there was no customer left to get the Chip it was hers to do with as she pleased, and it pleased her to give it to the Jumper.

He was interesting, and she wanted to see what he would do with the special chip. So on the way out Triss passed Gothic the chip.

"You kept your end of the deal" she said "And I'll keep mine. Long as you pay me and treat me fairly I'll work for you".

The Jumper smiled

"If you want money I can give you that" he replied "But there are things I can do for you that no amount of money can match".

On the way out they were met by an odd person who looked as if wanted to ambush them.

"The eyes of the mighty Caesar are upon you. He admires your accomplishments, and bestows upon you the gift of his Mark" he said as Gothic took a token "Any crimes you may have perpetrated against the Legion are hereby forgiven. But be warned Caesar will not be so forgiving a second time. My lord requires your presence at his camp, in Fortification Hill. His Mark will guarantee your safe passage though his lands".

Gothic inspected the token and spoke for the group.

"Tell him I accept his invitation" he said "Though it may be a while before I am able to make it out there. I have a few loose ends to tie up before I'll be able to give him the attention Caesar deserves".

The Legion spy accepted this.

"Seek Caesar by Cottonwood Cove, south of Nelson" he instructed "The Cursor Lucullus will be waiting"

With the man began walking away.

"So I guess we're going to this Cottonwood Cove" said Triss.

The Jumper smiled at her

"Yes, but not just yet" he said "We have a few things to take care of back at the casino".

Triss was fine with this as she wanted to find a bottle of something very strong to drink and then get some sleep. She'd earned it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Jump Chain Gothic 9 - New Vegas**

**Part 4**

**Penthouse. Lucky 38**.

Now that Mr House's luxury penthouse was all mine I had a place to use for a proper meeting. Currently the tech girls in my harem, those whose served as companions best in more high tech worlds rather than magical ones, were sitting with me. They were Miranda Lawson, Tali'Zorah, Seven of Nine, Samantha Carter, and the newest companion the Courier called Triss.

Those more interested in magic, Morgana Pendragon, Serana Volkihar, Allnel Forestwind, Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood, most of them were in stasis as I could only have eight companions, imported or not, with me at the same time. This didn't include the R2 droid, Cortana, Cameron or Sol the phoenix. I'd even gotten myself a House Elf as they were useful creatures.

Already Hermione and Luna were up and about, working on the magical defences of the Lucky 38, however once they were done with that there wouldn't be much for them do around here as this world lacked any magic, at least as far as I knew.

At least the House Elf could clean up this place, that creature worked unseen and once he'd sorted this place he'd go back into stasis, and Sol, well he could do whatever he pleased, he always did, he was very much like me in many ways. Immortal, powerful and a hit with the ladies.

"Okay one of the factions we need to deal with are the Boomers" I said.

Cortana began to explain about this group as she had access to all of Mr House's files.

"A little over fifty years ago a group of dissidents from Vault 34 struck out on their own and started using Nellis Airbase as a home" she told everyone "After wandering for a while, and killing people with the large amount of weaponry they'd brought with them out of the Vault, they eventually decided to call Nellis their home. Which contained an enormous stockpile of heavy ordnance, artillery, and other supplies".

It might also be possible that they had some advanced military tech within the base. Perhaps we'd find out.

"Because of their paranoia, hostility, and love of things that explode, the New Vegas locals started calling them "Boomers". No matter who approaches them thee Boomers have the same response: artillery" we were now being told "While the Boomers' attitude towards outsides has kept away anyone looking to hurt them".

I turned to Samantha.

"We need an Independent Vegas in order to finish this Jump" I said to the blond woman "and to do that we need the Boomers either on our side or out of the picture. Since you use to be an Air Force officer I want to deal with the Boomers. Find a way to make contact, and befriend them, or destroy them if you must".

I could think of more than a few ways to reach the Boomers so I didn't foresee Sam having any trouble as long as didn't trying running up to the front door.

"Next up we have the Brotherhood of Steel" I said to the group "Making contact with them will be easier once we get to know our guest Veronica Santangelo. She's messing about with some tech in basement. Tali you can work with her down there in the workshop for and I'll talk to her about the Brotherhood later. Just don't show her your alien form yet as she must be feeling overwhelmed".

Tali had set up in the basement so that she could tinker with the local tech I would have brought to her during our time here.

"The next faction that we need discuss is the Great Khans" I said to the group.

Again Cortana took over at this point in order to provide information.

"The Great Khans are the only truly organised band of raiders in the Mojave, at least according to Mr House's files, they have a sort of warrior culture, but they aren't really much of a threat to us" the AI informed "Really the Great Khans are just a shadow of their former selves. They've been nearly destroyed due to massacres and displacements. Now the last of them live in a stronghold at Red Rock Canyon, they make a living by drug-trafficking for the most part".

I turned to the Courier.

"You know the locals so I'll leave these drug dealers for you to deal with" I told her "I'd just wipe them out, but if you come up with a better solution then use it".

While I didn't know when the Battle of Hoover Dam would take place I couldn't handle all these matters by myself.

"The Followers of the Apocalypse aren't important" I was now saying "At least in a political sense, but they do help people and while we aren't here to sort out the wasteland it would be nice if we helped them to help others".

I looked at Miranda.

"Make contact with and offer them supplies" I said to her "Be careful as we don't want them to know how much we have as we could end up with crowds of people looking for a handout. You can use your own judgement".

While they wouldn't be able to get in or even get that close to the casino due to its defences the last thing Freeside needed was more desperate people.

"The Powder Gangers need to be dealt with as well" I said while looking over at Cameron, who was hanging around "Once the transporters are up and running I want to go to the prison that they're using as a base. Kill anyone who resists, and let the others live if they run. Then destroy the base. I want the gang disbanded permanently".

While no they were threat to me they might get in my way, and they were too dangerous to be allowed to run free.

"By your command" said my Terminator.

Next I address Seven of Nine.

"Get the transporters up and running as soon as you can" I ordered.

This involved quite a bit of work as not only did we need the actual teleporter, it then had to be used to beam a satellite up into orbit, and probes needed to be sent out. Once that was done we'd be able to beam to anywhere we wished in the area. I didn't need beaming tech to teleport, but apperating had its own limits, such as focus as you had to clearly picture in your mind where you were going before willing yourself there. Which was hard to do when you were in a fire fight.

"I will comply" stated Seven.

We had more to discuss.

"Also we need to deal with the White Glove Society" I mentioned to everyone "They might be cannibals I can't remember. We can send someone over to check them out after dealing with our current jobs".

I had some more work for Miranda.

"Aside from the Followers I need to you open up ties with the Crimson Caravan Company and Van Graffs if possible. Either group might have stuff that we want" I said "and it would be good to have more allies".

Both groups had access to a lot of materials, and the Van Graffs dealt in energy weapons, examples of which I desired my girls to study so as to add to our knowledge.

"What will you doing?" Miranda asked.

I would be busy enough given all I needed to do.

"Once the transporters are working I need to go visit the Roman wannabes" I answered "Until then I'm going to relax for a bit as I'll be rushing around a lot later".

Since my magic girls wouldn't have much to do during this short jump I figured it would be fun to put them to work in a different way.

(Line Break)

**Cocktail Lounge. Lucky 38.**

The cocktail lounge was basically a circular lounge with a bar, near the top of the Lucky 38's tower, just under the Lucky 38 penthouse. The lounge contained many things, including a snow globe, which I could add to my growing collection.

While the windows provide a limited view of the Mojave Wasteland, and the lit up Strip, I had something much more interesting to look at.

Currently I was reclined back in my seat enjoying the show before me, since they'd soon be going back into stasis Hermione and Luna wanted to do something memorable for me

As I relaxed Hermione and Luna stood before me. They were wearing just their house ties they'd worn at school and knee high socks. I often had them both dress in their school uniforms that were now too small for them, for my own amusement. Currently those were on the floor.

Their tongues wrestling wildly as their hands feverishly explored each other's bodies stroking and squeezing everywhere they could reach all the while sending seductive glances at me.

After breaking the kiss Luna then began to kneel down running her tongue along the front of Hermione's naked body, making the brunette moan as she did.

"Oh Merlin, Luna yes!" Hermione hissed as Luna buried her face between her legs driving her hot little tongue deep into her cunt "Just like that".

These two did things like this for me because they were used to it. I'd groomed them both from a young age while we'd been to school together. Neither witch had ever been much good at dealing with people sociably and so I'd been their only friend until they made friends with each.

Once they were old enough I'm deflowered them both, and they'd taught them to please me. Which was something they'd both become very skilled at doing.

I took off my boxers letting my cock go free before wrapping my hand around it before I started to stroke myself as Hermione got down on a couch so that Luna could more easily lick her out.

Soon she was burying her fingers into Luna's platinum blonde locks, moaning loudly whilst the little Ravenclaw slut hungrily ate her out

"Fuck that's hot" I muttered to myself.

Hermione lifted a leg to hook it over Luna's shoulder holding the blonde in place whilst she ground her dripping cunt against her mouth. I'd seen them do this before, yet it never became a dull event to watch.

Luna was on her hands and knees, while keeping her round arse high in the air, giving me a nice view as she drove her tongue deeper inside Hermione's cunt

"Oh Merlin yes!" Hermione called out.

Luna's tongue must have found a sweet spot as she was now burying her fingers in the blonde's hair while bucking her hips as Luna gyrated at me as best she could.

"Oh fuck….come here….and fuck her!" the brunette suddenly cried out.

Luna was feasting on Hermione's cunt reducing the brunette to a shaking orgasmic mess. Meanwhile I gave Luna's cute little arse a good spank making the small slut yelp against Hermione's cunt

As I put my cock inside her Luna looked back over her shoulder and her eyes glazed over as I used my powers to make her feel very good.

"Yesss…..Daddy. Fuck me….I need it!" the blonde begged.

She was now pressing back against me, desperately trying to impale herself as my much as possible on my manhood. Clearly she needed a good hard fucking so I took pity on her by taking hold of her waist tightly before I thrusted into her hard driving all of my cock into her needy pussy. This made her scream out in sheer bliss

"Oh Daddy yes!" she called out.

At this point she was having trouble balancing her hands and knees as she took it hard from behind, yet she did her best to keep licking Hermione. I had to admire this, it could not be easy to sexually please the both of us. I made this even harder for her by forcing her to feel a lot more pleasure that a woman normally could in this situation.

As her climax overwhelmed her, Luna completely lost her balance soon becoming a heap on the floor, as soon as my cock no longer had a warm hole the other witch got down on her knees and as I sat back she ended up grabbing hold of my dick before swallowing down every inch of it until her nose vanished into pubic hair.

"No fair, I wanted more" Luna whined

A moment later she was crawling over to me and began trying to find a way to fit my dick into her own mouth, but the older witch wouldn't let the blond have any more fun.

I didn't last much longer because of Hermione's mouth felt so good. Once I'd cum inside her she showed the baby batter to Luna, as if to show off, which made the smaller witch pout in a very cute way as Hermione swallowed.

"Now why don't you get on the couch and lay back as I can tend to that sweet little cunt of yours" the older witch suggested "I think I owe you after you tongue work you gave me".

I'd leave them to it.

(Line Break)

**Legion Camp. **Mojave Wasteland.

It took nearly an hour going upriver before I saw the first signs of Caesar's camp. By this time it was just starting to get dark, but that just made the torches easier to see. It was a small dock, sticking out of the Arizona side of the river, with two torches and a single Legion soldier standing guard. When I got close enough, he threw me a rope and helped the Legion guy who'd brought me here to tie his raft to the dock.

So far, so good. All I had to do now was met with Caeser and get him to give me access to the old Weather Station.

"Ave. True to Caesar," the Legionnaire said to me as I stepped off the boat.

He thumped his fist on his chest as a salute, and I returned the gesture simply out of politeness, no need to upset them just yer. He looked me up and down once, then just as I was about to try and make my way past him, he mutteed something rude under his breath. To him I looked like a mercenary, a scoundrel, and that was exactly the impression I wanted him to have so I took no offence.

Unlike in the game they didn't even bother to confiscate my weapons or the chip. They must not consider me threat in anyway. Typical bad guy arrogance. I'd seen much of it in my time and it always served my needs.

It was a very long hike from the dock up to the actual fort itself. Along the way I saw that the walls around the Legion base must have been ten feet high, and looked like they were made out of thick sheets of metal, wood and recycled materials.

Also I noted that there were a pair of Legionnaires at the top of the wall with hunting rifles, stationed on either side of an open drawbridge. They didn't concern me so I just marched through the gate like I owned the place and into the fort.

Once inside I saw that there was another, slightly smaller hill, as well as another winding path to follow with a wall and an open drawbridge. Attacking this base would be a costly endeavour even with my bots, not that this mattered as bots were expendable, and if needs be I had powerful weapons that I could use to destroy this place.

Nobody had shot me yet, but aside from the guards on the wall and maybe one or two other Legionnaires I saw patrolling the perimeter, I didn't really see anyone else yet there were torches everywhere, giving the impression of great numbers.

This was a trick I'd read about it history books of one world or another. An army would light more fires and torches than they needed in order to make the enemy think they had greater numbers than they actually did.

To me it made sense as the Legion had suffered a great defeat at the last battle for the dam, they must have lost more warriors than was widely known, and I imagined that many a Legion solider was out there gathering slaves in attempt to restore their numbers or otherwise trying to gain more resources.

This idea was reinforced by the sheer number of tents. I didn't know how many there were because I didn't want to stay here long enough to count, but if those tents had all been in use, and could be again if the Legion had reinforcements coming, then the Legion had thousands of warriors. They were a true army, or at least a true of an army as this world could have.

The deeper and deeper I went into Caesar's camp, the more worried I got. By now I was seeing a lot less people in sports equipment, and more people in metal armour. The more seasoned warriors got better stuff than the newbies who had to make do with sporting equipment for armour and old machetes for weapons.

I could see men working. Some of them looked like they were training, and some of them looked like they were making weapons. The Legion was well armed, they had more than just blades and spears, but also guns, lots of guns.

Despite this the only thing that really concerned me was the howitzer. I've seen artillery pieces like this before, mostly on TV and a few in museums, and while my bots wouldn't be damaged much by spears and bullets fired from hunting rifles than howitzer could really do a number on my army. I'd have to send Cameron here with some plan to ensure that it, and any other big guns they had, didn't work come the big battle.

For now I had other things to worry about. I needed to speak with Ceaser.

(Line Break)

**Weather Station. Legion Camp. **

There was only one here console so quickly I found a slot similar to the one I'd seen in the penthouse of the Lucky 38. Then I took the Platinum Chip out, and pressed it into the slot. There was a whirl, and a click as it disappeared into the machine.

A moment later, the ground rumbled, and a hatch in the floor opened up, revealing a staircase. The console clicked again, and returned the Platinum Chip to me. I grabbed it, as I drew the laser pistol I'd fully repaired and upgraded a few hours ago, and then cautiously made my way down the stairs. Before long I found myself looking at a rusted elevator door, which was emblazoned with the emblem of the Lucky 38.

"I guess I'm in the right place" I said to myself.

The doors creaked open with a few shudders, kicking up some dust as they moved, and I cautiously stepped into the elevator. It didn't feel like it went down too far before a second pair of doors on the opposite side opened up.

By now I had my new laser pistol pointed at the doors as they opened. I had no idea what to expect, my memories of playing this game having faded over the decades, and while so far those memories were guiding me well despite their age, I didn't want to take any chances.

Soon I found myself in a small room with a large monitor against one wall. The screen flickered, and the still image of Cortana's pretty face greeted me.

"Boss I need you to manually upload the data from the Chip to the facility's primary computer" the AI told me "There's a terminal at the other end of the facility".

This shouldn't be a problem as clearly no one had been here for years.

"Seems easy enough," I said with a shrug.

"Yes, well there's a complication" Cortana told me.

Of course there was. I don't why I'd been thinking otherwise.

"What else is new?" I said before getting on with things "So what's this complication then?"

"While I can take control of this console I can't get to the facility's systems" she told me "That means I can't deactivate the security bots, most of which appear to be active. Get me to the facility's main computer and I can hack it with your omin-tool".

Thankfully I had experience with bots, plenty of it.

"Okay let's get this army up and running" I declared.

Before long I ran into something.

"HALT. THIS IS A LAWFUL USE OF DEADLY FORCE," a mechanical voice called out, accompanied by a very recognisable series of clunking noises "ALL NON COMBATANTS, PLEASE: EXIT THE AREA IN AN ORDERLY FASHION"

Then I saw a Protectron model security robot, and this let me relax just a little as they were notoriously slow, and stupid at least when compared to other and above all else they were horrible shots. In fact this was a good opportunity to get some training done with my lightsaber.

My lightsaber was a thing of beauty, a work of art, having been modified so many times that only in spirit could it be considered to really be the same lightsaber that I'd started off with when the Star Wars Jump had began as nearly all the parts had been replaced. My lightsaber in its current incarnation was made from parts that came form different universe, so in a sense the weapon connected me to every Jump.

The crystal, which could be considered to be the heart of the lightsaber even if it wasn't the power source, had been given when I'd visited the Crystal Cave in the Merlin a very important place, holy in a sense. The crystal was not only bonded with me through the Force but also magically.

I'd added a second crystal to the saber after discovering that the Philosopher's Stone, the creation of Nicolas Flamel that I'd taken at the end of my first year at Hogwarts was the real thing. It fitted into my lightsaber as the crystal was much smaller than you might think, although it had seemed larger when I'd first gotten it. I'd bonded with the stone using the Force, and this allowed me to keep the stone close, and I'd even rebuilt the sabre so that the stone fitted.

As for then power cell had been made using the technology of the Ancients, it was a naquadah power cell, and because of its highly quality of make the lightsaber could run for many years without needing the cell replaced.

The pommel cap which was the end-piece of a lightsaber hilt, which included a ring so the weapon could be hooked on its wielder's belt when not in use, I'd made mine from gold pressed latinum that I'd gotten for the Trek Jump and had never used. I didn't normally like gold as decoration, but I'd liked finally having a use for the latinum.

Another part, the focusing lens, which was a key component in the construction of a lightsaber hilt as these lenses further regulated the beam of a lightsaber, was also made of an exotic material. Mine was a machine carved piece of heart stone that I'd gotten from the island of Solstheim.

Despite these magical bits the weapon would not work as a wand, I didn't understand why, but I figured it had to with the saber being a Jump Chain back item and as such it could never be anything other than a weapon, although it was certainly a powerful saber with magical properties.

A power insulator was installed into the hilt to protect me from any energy discharges. This part had never been replaced as there was no need. The emitter matrix I'd improved up and rebuilt using parts from some tech I'd picked up during the Mass Effect Jump simply on a whim.

I'd even added a special dial to the saber so that the size of the blade could be adjusted and the device that allowed that came from one of the parts I'd replaced while upgrading Cameron. Which could be considered a little romantic in some sense to some people.

The lightsaber even contained a small sensor which prevented anyone who didn't have the ATA gene, which both of my bodies had, from using the weapon. That was also tech taken from the Stargate Galaxy.

At some point I'd have to add something from this universe to the weapon. Perhaps it was time to replace the on/off switch or the casing, but that was something I could think about later. Right now I had a robot to destroy, and that only took a second as the silvery-white blade deflected laser fire before allowing to cut the robot in half.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I stepped over the broken robot, and quickly scanned the corridors for more bots. There were no more around, however I felt certain that I'd run into more soon enough.

I found a room after destroying the bot. One wall was lined with a few lockers, and three RobCo computer terminals stuck out of the adjacent wall. In the corner was a pair of ammo boxes, and a weapon's locker.

I decided to check them and see if I could find anything useful. What I found was a plasma rifle that needed some repair work, two microfusion cells, a hammer, some scrap metal, a roll of duct tape, two plasma grenades, and an EMP grenade. I grabbed the grenades, the cells, and the rifle before deciding to try my luck with the terminals.

While the security bots couldn't be turned off, due some error even Cortana couldn't work around, she was able to disable the turrets and open all the doors, this would save me a little time and effort.

With that done, I left the room and made my way down the adjacent hallway that led deeper into the facility. I noticed that the air was staler as I went deeper and while my personal shield kept me safe from radiation it didn't do anything about the air so I used a Force ability called breathe control to deal with that.

A pair of laser blasts cut through the air as I arrived at the end of the hallway, and I deflected them with ease, sending shots back at the source as best I could. Beyond the hallway's exit was a large room and through the dim light I could just about make out the shapes of two Protectrons slowly clanking their way towards me, and firing lasers wildly. This was foolish as I used their own laser blasts to destroy them. Lightsabers could deflect and redirect a number of energy base attacks and my sabre was more versatile than most.

Once inside the big room I saw that the walls had windows which allowed me to look at the army of bots that would soon be mine to command. There were rows and rows of Securitrons lining the floor behind the glass. There were easily several hundred of the things in there just waiting to be put to my purpose.

After dealing with a few more droids I found the right computer and put the Platinum Chip in the slot, then things got very noisy as Cortana took control. Through the windows I saw the Securitrons come online, their screens now showing a soldier's face.

The console clicked again, and spat out the Platinum Chip. I grabbed it and made my way out. Once top side I'd make contact with the satellite in orbit and beam back to the Lucky 38 as there was no reason for me to stay here any longer. I had no desire to speak with the Legion's leader again as he was a total jerk. There were much nicer people waiting for me at the casino.

(Line Break)

**Freeside. New Vegas.**

The Silver Rush, the building we were currently heading for, had once been a large casino, only distinguishable from any other Freeside building by the large sign that appeared to have crashed into the partially collapsed upper floor.

A white spray of graffiti - WE SELL WEAPONS FULLY CHARGED WITH NO EXTRA CHARGE - was enough to tell passers-by that they'd find more than just slot machines inside this building. The guard positioned at the front door, wielding a huge plasma rifle, was another clue to as the truth of this place.

We also stood out, being all clean, and very heavily armed, thankfully no one had tried to mess with this group, because we were so heavily armed.

"Woah there," the man at the door said, "I'm afraid I can't let you in. No weapons allowed in here, other than the ones we're selling. You'd best hand 'em over".

This I'd been expecting.

"Sure, no problem," I said.

I had weapons in my pouch of holding if they were needed. Everyone else handed them over less easily, and Cameron had to be convinced by me to hand over Princess. Sadly we needed to do this as Graffs wanted to speak with me in person before selling anything to my group.

We were ready for betrayal, I wore my personal shield and we had comms open to Miranda who was monitoring this situation. Should things turn hostile she would beam us out, and once we were out I could beam in something that went boom.

"Thank you, Sirs and Ma'ams" the guard said as he took our weapons.

He placed the weapons into a large metal containers to his right.

"Trust me, your weapons are as safe as kittens in there" he assured us.

When we got inside we found that the weapons dealers were already doing some business.

"You're interrupting here," the mercenary warned. "Keep your mouth shut and let the Van Graffs take care of things".

I turned to the group.

"We shouldn't get involved in local affairs unless we really have to" I advised "We're just here to buy weapons and then we can leave. There are other places we can go, and a lot more tech for us to gather".

Thankfully no one argued with me, and I realised that I should really take my own advice, at least some of the time.

"Mr. Soren, please get to the point," a woman urged, her voice smooth and sultry. "Your payment is late and I want to know why".

The man, Mr Soren, soon spoke.

"Miss Van Graff, my associates and I have decided that we would like to renegotiate the terms of our deal" he said.

That man's voice was calm, all business. He really had no idea how much danger he was in.

"Might I ask for what reason?" enquired the woman, who must be a leader here "The shipment was delivered in perfect condition. The guns were tested before leaving this facility".

"Regardless, we feel that the quality of the weapons is far below expectation" said the man "and we hope to adjust the price accordingly".

That sounded reasonable, but the woman he was talking to wasn't the reasonable kind I felt sure.

"Ah. I believe I understand what the issue here is. Would you excuse me for a moment?" she asked.

The woman remained still, only turning to face a guard, and I knew that she had no intention of leaving.

"Do it" said the lady.

A flash of neon green came out of one of the rifles a guard was holding, hitting the body of a man in armour, the bodyguard of Mr Soren, he died without a sound. It happened all at once. The business man's bodyguard lit up in a brilliant display of light, then he was nothing more than ashes. Such powerful weapons for such a primitive people. Perhaps the Brotherhood of Steel had a point about trying to keep such tech out of the hands of these savages.

"Never break faith with the Van Graffs, Mr. Soren," the woman warned. "I expect you'll have our payment ready by tomorrow morning".

The man did not reply. He took a few unsteady paces back before bolting from the room, flying up the steps and releasing an involuntary whimper of terror. I could see the dark stain spreading across his crotch as he sped past us, almost throwing himself out the door.

"Alright everyone, show's over," the woman announced. "Let the customers in".

I heard Triss say something about the fact that we shouldn't do business with the kind of people who ran this place, and that was wise, there would be no long term alliance. I'd buy what they offered and then never return here. I might even have them destroy should they give me a reason.

"Sorry about the wait," said one of the Van Graffs as she leaned over the desk. "We had some business to take care of. It wasn't our intention to let you through the door before that matter was settled, but don't worry. I'll be having a long talk with our guard".

With that the bartering began. Thankfully I had a lot of caps as there were many weapons and a few other things that I wanted to buy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Jump Chain Gothic 9 - New Vegas**

**Part 5**

**NCR Base. New Vegas.**

When I'd been invited to come speak with a high ranking officer within the NCR military I'd assumed that it would have something to do with my recent takeover of the Lucky 38, and that Miranda had created this contact.

As it turned out the NCR was under the opinion that I and others were highly effective mercenaries who currently worked for Mr House. This actually suited me fine as it meant that no one knew who really ruled New Vegas.

Playing along with this I'd decide to bring Cameron with me as well as Triss , who was taking a break from dealing the Great Khans, to the NCR base so that we could find out what work the NCR was offering.

"You're having trouble with the Fiends?" I asked.

I could already see where this was going, and I liked the idea of getting paid to take out some bad guys, or at least bad guys like the The Fiends who were raiders of the worst sort; notoriously vicious and too drugged out of their brain to ever reason with.

"Yeah," the major replied while lifting a cigarette to his lips. "The Fuckers have been killing my men for years. I would love if the whole goddamn lot of them just up and died, but for now, I've got three Fiends I want dead, and I don't give a damn how it's done. That interest you?".

While I wasn't here to fix the wastelands problems, I had neither the time or the desire to do such a thing, there were benefits to taking out the Fiends beyond any offered material rewards or goodwill from the NCR (New California Republic). In the game they the Fiends had some sort of rapid firing laser weapons, and if they did in this reality then I wanted a look at those weapons.

"It might" I said, playing it cool "Who do you want dead and what are you offering as a reward?".

The NCR officer got on with the business at hand.

"The first one we want dead calls herself Violet" he let me know "God knows why, the name is the prettiest thing about her, that's for damn sure. She raises dogs. Vicious things, be careful with them. Then there's Driver Nephi. He's fast and he's brutal. He's taken out a dozen of my men with a goddamn driver iron, hence the name. And that's not counting all the mercs I've sent after him. Don't get in a brawl with him; he gets in close and he's bashing in your heads".

So avoid the crazy guy who wanted to crushed my skill. Sounded like good advice to me.

"Lastly, there's Cook-Cook. Rapist, pyromaniac, and a damn good chef" the officer said next "If the Fiends we've captured weren't just talking out of their asses. He's the worst of the lot. He's a mad sonofabitch".

The officer took a long drag on his cigarette.

"I'm not going to spin you any bullshit" said the military man "These bastards aren't your common Vegas trash. They've all killed good NCR men, and plenty of mercs, too. If you're not careful, you'll end up dead".

Well, at least the guy was honest.

"I'm hoping the reward takes that into account," Triss said casually.

"You bet your ass it does. We're paying 250 caps a head" he offered.

I snorted.

"Caps are worthless I have more than anyone could ever need" I said "Call me when you have a serious offer".

The officer stood up and was about to yell at me when he calmed himself down. The guy looked stressed.

"What are you guys after?" he asked.

I smiled.

"Rare bits of tech, advanced weapons, stuff I can't just buy in Vegas" I told him.

The officer considered this.

"We do have some supplies that your group might be able to use" he said "But I'll need the head of the Motor-Runner the Fiend's leader, as well as the others in exchange".

I suspected that he thought I'd try to barter for a bigger reward or less work, so he was surprised when I simply accepted the terms.

"One last thing," the colonel warned "Don't go for the headshot; try centre mass. I want the heads recognisable. My superiors need proof they're dead".

Well I didn't normally take heads, but I could make an exception.

"I'll need some way to ID the bodies" I said.

A stack of folders were passed to with photos and background information on all of the major players within the gang known as the Fiends. There were bounties for a lot of people, but only a handful were worth going after.

"I'll bring you the heads of the leaders" I promised "Just have my reward ready".

(Line Break)

**Vault 3. Mojave Wasteland**

The Courier was sitting far away from the Fiends Base, peering through her binoculars, which were more more high tech than normal pairs, as she studied the enemy while safely hidden by her personal cloaking device, another gift from the Jumper.

Gothic had underestimated how many Fiends there would be here, and so he'd beamed back to the Strip in order to get a group of Securitrons together who could help them capture the Fiend's base.

While the Fiends had planted several frag mines and bear traps in between the Vault and the road to the Strip, that shouldn't prove a problem as Cameron, Gothic's highly skilled sex bot, was already working to disarm them.

There was a flash of light and Triss saw Gothic approaching with a group of eight Securitrons. These were the upgraded models, not just due to the Platinum Chip, but also because the group the Courier had recently joined up went ahead and added new technology to the robots.

The Jumper seemed to know where Triss was despite her cloak so she switched the device off, and then signalled for him to come over to her spot.

"What have you got?" Gothic asked

Triss passed him the special binoculars.

"I count four different guard posts surrounding the vault" the Courier reported "We should take those before moving on the Vault".

Gothic turned to one of the robot which was currently showing the 2D face of Cortana the Jumper's AI.

"Don't let any of them escape, and don't let any Fiends near the vault see you" he ordered.

The AI had access to satellite imagery and as such she knew where the Fiend guard posts could be found.

"Yes Sir!" a normal Securitron said as they headed out.

The Jumper then turned to Triss.

"We'll take out the guards near the entrance" he said.

The Courier grabbed her fully repaired and upgraded laser pistol as she took cover behind a rusted old car chassis, there were two guards with melee weapons near the entrance as well as another walking around while carrying a Sniper Rifle in one hand and a bottle of vodka in his other hand.

"Take out the sniper" Gothic whispered.

Triss aimed, fired a single shot, and the sniper fell. The Jumper aimed his strange looking alien weapon and fired two shots, this resulted in the two guards becoming nothing more than memories as they were vaporised. Gothic's weapon was even more power than the best plasma weapons the Graffs sold.

A moment later Cameron appeared.

"I've disarmed all the traps" she reported

"Haven't seen you for a while" Triss commented "I thought you and the boss were joined at the hip".

Cameron tilted her head and started at the Courier for a moment.

"I've been hunting down Powder Gangers" she then said "As well the Jackals, Vipers, Scorpions, and various other raider gangs named after animals".

Gothic then turned to Cameron.

"That gun you won't be much help inside the vault" he stated "So you stay here with the Securitrons and kill any Fiends trying to escape".

Cameron didn't question this.

"Yes my Master" she said.

The Jumper then turned to the Courier.

"Triss we'll we go in get there attention and then hightail it out of there" he said "The Fiends will lay chase and bots can wipe them out when they leave the vault. Then we'll go back in and take out the leader. Once he's dead we can identity the other bounties, get their heads so we can collect the reward".

Buddy barked and looked at the leader of the group, not needing words to get his meaning across.

"Yes you can come with us too" replied Gothic.

Triss was less enthusiastic about this than her robot canine friend.

"So the plan consists of getting the heavily armed drug addicts angry, and then making them chase us?" she questioned.

The Jumper smiled.

"Yep" he said.

He used the console to open the vault's door, and walked inside. Triss made herself follow. She'd trusted Gothic so far and things had worked out well, at least so far.

The room on the other side of the vault was very dark, and she wouldn't have been able to see if not for the night-vision sunglasses she'd been supplied with. She heard a Fiend's voice and then the sound of Gothic's lightsaber activating, which provided some light

A Fiend fired and the Courier ducked, before diving behind a wall as a blast of plasma shot came across the room. It was odd for the Fiends to have plasma weapons, as those were rare, but this was no time to worry about that as they needed to run outside.

Since the Fiends were a bunch of drugged out losers with only a few brain cells between them, they fell for Gothic's trap and ran after the Jumper as he and the Courier ran outside. Once they did that the Fiends were gunned down in mere seconds.

When they headed back inside Gothic began hunting down and killing all the remaining Fiends, some of them had laser and plasma weapons, but that didn't matter much as he simply killed them with his fancy energy blade.

Before long they came across the fiend called Driver Nephi, her high tech sunglasses, which connected to the AI called Cortana, identified the wanted crook, and Jumper Gothic removed his head.

"One down" he said.

That was a little gruesome for her, but given what the Fiends got up to she didn't mind so much, and the Jumper proved that he wasn't all about killing when he stopped to free some souls who'd been captured by the Fiends, before having Triss escort them while he finished off the remaining Fiends

(Line Break)

**NCR Ranger Safehouse. ****Mojave ****Wasteland.**

According the satellite images the region around the safehouse was heavily infested by both deathclaws and radscorpions. However since we could beam to a spot just outside the safehouse we didn't need to worry about that.

The entrance to the safehouse was a cave, which lead to a door that in turned got us into the safehouse. There were only three rooms inside the safehouse: a dining room, which had a bar and plenty of clean water, a bedroom with plenty of beds, as well as footlockers, and two big lockers for the personal effects of the rangers who made this their base of operation while out doing missions in the Mojave.

None of that interested me or my girls as Triss, Cameron and I headed for the armoury, which contained the best gear the NCR could supply their rangers with. The NCR officer I'd been dealing with was allowing us to take what we wanted from this safehouse as long as we were hunting bounties for him.

Which I was fine with as I could send Cameron out to kill bad guys while I got on with other things, and if they tried sending us after people who didn't need to die then we'd look elsewhere for cool stuff.

One of the shelves held several pieces of NCR armour, including NCR Ranger combat armor, NCR salvaged power armor, NCR Ranger patrol armor, a Ranger's hat, Ranger's helmet, and a Salvaged power helmet. Along with a variety of weapons and ammo stacked on the shelves.

Most of the ammo, weapons and armour meant nothing to my group as we could make better stuff on our own. We took the salvaged power armour, which could be studied and repaired. As for the NCR Ranger combat armour that was more primitive than the power armour, but it looked awesome.

"Can I have this?" asked Triss "It is a set for a woman".

I considered this. I wanted the suit mostly for my collection of neat stuff that I had in the Cosmic Warehouse, and it could improved upon, but it would be a bit of waste just to keep in storage.

"Okay you can wear it" I told her.

Suddenly Triss looked like a little girl at Christmas, which was totally adorable.

(Line Break)

**Basement. Lucky 38**

In the game this space was used by Mr House to demonstrate how the Platinum Chip had been used to upgrade his robot army. The former borg drone called Seven of Nine knew this and found the information to be unimportant. Mr House no longer ruled here Gothic did, and this was as it should be.

Her task here involved setting up the equipment required for the group's activities in this universe. Already she'd assisted in setting up the work space her fellow companion Tali'Zorah required to analyse and adapt local technology. Having worked with the alien engineer for many years Seven knew that Tali would make good use of the equipment they'd both set up, and she felt no need to interrupt her now that the brilliant quarian had begun her tasks.

Having completed the work required to set up their beaming technology, which would allow members of Jump Gothic's ever growing team of companions, who Seven considered to her collective, to be quickly transported around the Wasteland, the eager explorer had moved onto other projects. Right now Seven of Nine was now using the small satellite that she'd beamed into orbit to scan the area around New Vegas for any signs of advanced technology that the group could claim.

Here within the large basement of the casino she'd set up an efficient work space. Making use of the best technology she had access to, the tech was considerably more sophisticated than anything the humans of this world could produce even before the war that destroyed their civilisation.

Already she'd found the location of the Brotherhood of Steel's hidden bunker, which hadn't been hidden well enough to stop her finding it, however this group held little interest for the cyborg as while they had energy weapons and power armour, technology that could be interesting to compare to similar tech the group had obtained elsewhere, they weren't willing to share due to being hostile to outsiders.

Seven spent some time studying HELIOS One a Poseidon Energy solar plant that generated and provides power to the New Vegas Strip, Freeside, and other settlements in the Mojave Wasteland, or at least it did when working. It also contained the control system for two space-based weapon platforms, Archimedes I and Archimedes II.

Taking control of these weapon platforms, assuming that they still worked, would be beneficial to the group's efforts. Jumper Gothic wished to control the outcome of an important battle in the near future and such devices could easily destroy a couple of primitive armies.

Seven was about to attempt to contact her lover when she found something much more pressing than weapon platforms that might not longer exist. If her scans were correct then an unknown aircraft, a craft certainly not flown by humans judging by the sensor date, had just crashed outside of New Vegas.

Knowing what to do the cyborg with the big rack contacted the Jumper and told him about her discovery.

(Line Break)

**Crash Sigh****t. Wasteland.**

In a flash of white light Veronica Santangelo, Seven of Nine, ED-E, and I appeared in a spot north of New Vegas. Our mission this evening was to reach the site of an alien crash sight, that wasn't too far from where we were now.

Once there we needed to access the damage to the craft, deal with any survivors, who or may not be hostile, and keep others away while we salvaged the small ship. From what I knew of this setting the xeno life forms were the stereotypical alien invaders mostly seen in old sci fi films.

If I recalled correctly the alien would be little green men, with a possibility that they were from Mars, with flying saucers, death rays, and the habit of abducting farmers. In fact there was an old farm not to far away.

It didn't take much effort to find what I was looking for, and it certainly didn't take long. All I had to do was follow the trail of smoke, over terrain that could only have been more flat unless I ran it over with a steamroller.

What we found was not exactly a crater, which is what you'd expect if a ship crashed, but close enough. There was a long trail of displaced earth where the metal disk, a real life flying saucer had rather badly landed.

The ground all around the crashed ships was still hot and smouldering, and it was still on fire. Of course I noticed right away that the flames weren't the right colour. They burned blue and green rather than orange, and parts of the small alien ship were spitting sparks randomly.

Using my ability to control non-magical fire (magic fire could often have a will of its own) I put out the flames, an act which made it possible to get closer to the craft as our clothing protected us form the heat and we had breathing apparatus as well.

When I caught a glimpse of the clear bubble dome, that was cracked and broken, at one end. It looked more like the kind of cockpit you'd see in a jet fighter not an alien craft. Most certainly it wasn't a human made aircraft, because it was entirely the wrong design. Humans didn't make craft shaped like a saucer.

"The fuck is this?" Veronica Santangelo said.

She was nervous, I didn't need the Force to tell me that, her metal fist was raised, ready to punch someone or more likely something.

What stumbled out into view from behind the cloud of smoke was something that was very much not a human. It had two legs, two arms, and a head, but that was where any similarities between it and humans more or less came to an end.

The creature couldn't have been more than three or four feet tall, and its limbs were just so skinny and tiny that they almost looked atrophied. The head, on the other hand, was massive and bulbous, with greenish-grey skin, and completely hairless. Its eyes were huge, and completely black; it didn't look like it had a nose or ears, just holes where they should've been, and a tiny slit for a mouth.

It looked like it was wearing some kind of full body suit made out of a silvery blue foil, marred and torn, with a weird green liquid staining parts of it. The creature doubled over, and started coughing, and that same green liquid came pouring out of its mouth. I quickly realised it must be blood from internal injuries.

"What the fuck..." Veronica said aloud "Ghouls, fine. Super mutants, fine. Giant insects, no problem. But this... this is unlike anything I've ever seen before!".

I got a little closer to the craft.

"Can you understand me?" I asked "do you need help?".

It stopped retching blood, looked up at me, and reached for a gun on its belt. I knocked the gun out of its hand, but not before a blue ball of some kind of energy sizzled through the air and hit Seven of Nine. There was no sign of her a moment later, she'd simply vanished.

I fired my weapon as Cortana fired ED-E's laser. The two laser beams struck the creature right smack in the middle of its chest. With a cry, it fell over backwards and hit the ground with a thud.

"Is she dead?" Veronica asked.

There was a pause before I answered.

"Sorry I'm usually more composed" I said to the scribe "I'm just a little Absolutely Livid at the moment".

I calmed down quickly when I realised that Seven would return within a matter of days. Companions re-spawned, something I attempted to explain to Veronica.

"You guys are immortal?" she asked.

That wasn't an easy question to answer, and this was neither the time or the place to discuss such things.

"Cortana any more life forms?" I asked.

Unlikely since the craft was too small to carry more than the pilot. Still hindsight made me realise that it would have been wise to wait until Cameron returned from her mission of hunting down the remaining Powder Gangers, a few were still causing trouble, but by then the aliens may have recovered the craft.

"I can't find any" she answered "Not even any wildlife".

Moving quickly I grabbed the alien's gun, it was made out of some odd grey-blue metal, and looked like a very large egg with a stick coming out of one end for the barrel, and another stick coming out of the bottom for the handle, which had a trigger. There were three lights running down each side, and another light on the back. The barrel had a few rings right before the end, and the top of the gun had a fin which could have been the sight. It was the strangest looking energy weapon I'd ever seen in my life. It looked more a child's toy, or a prop from a cheesy science fiction movie rather than a deadly weapon.

"Hey these are the guys from the holotapes of the alien autopsy from 300 years ago" Veronica was now saying "The Brotherhood has a copy they transferred to holotapes, I saw one when I was a kid".

The scribe looked as if she might go a bit loopy.

"When the fuck did my life become so weird?" she said rather aloud.

"As soon as you met me" I told her.

Any further discussion came to an end as I started planning out how I'd get the ship in the Vehicle Bay. I had room for it as the bay contained only my Mako and a Puddle Jumper, all the rest of the transports were within either the Space Dock or the Shipyard, addons I couldn't access right now due to the no FTL rule of this setting, this meant the aliens must have come here in ships slower than light.

I'd been saving space in the Vehicle Bay for a veritbird, a local type of aircraft mostly used the by the Enslave, I could have either gotten one in the set up or found one within the Jump and taken it tinker around with. Now I had something even better.

Once in the bay my girls and I could examine the alien craft, and perhaps even fix it up sometime in the future. Right now I just needed to focus using my telekinetic powers to move the ship the barn of the nearby farm so I could use its door to open a way into the Vehicle Bay. Which would be a lot easier with help so I decided to call for some.

(Line Break)

**Basement. Lucky 38**

After downloading all the data from the computer on board the captured alien scout ship I learned a little about the aliens. They came from a star system called Zeta Reticuli, a binary star system less than forty light years from Earth, a far distance to travel if you didn't have some form of FTL drive, but it was possible to traverse that far if they had stasis technology and didn't mind the long trip.

Another thing I discovered was that the two of the ships they'd sent had orbited and observed since the 1600s, but during that time humans had little real awareness of them and less evidence of their existence. Before the 1960s, only crackpots believed in them, thinking that aliens existed but that evidence of their existence was covered up by a government conspiracy.

However, after the mysterious disappearances of the USSA space capsule Clarabella 7 and the pilot, astronaut Colonel Hartigan, during the 1960s Space Race, the aliens became recognised by national leaders.

I'd seen records on Mr House's computers that suggested an idea that alien technology was the basis of many of the Enclave's most impressive weaponry and robotics. Perhaps even the energy weapons of this world existed because of some back engineered alien tech. It would explain how this world had plasma weapons so soon after figuring out laser weapons, and how they managed to make a power source for such weapons, as well as power armour.

In my original world things like laser weapons and power armour rarely got of the lap because such devices required massive amounts of energy that simply couldn't be provided by anything portable. My tech didn't have this concern as we has naquadah power cells.

The pre-War United States government was said to keep its alien specimens and technology mainly in Area 51. Again according to Mr House's files at the base their had been a flying saucer which was later recaptured by aliens, that crashed crashed in Rosewell. Perhaps I should make a trip to Area 51 and check the place out.

According to a certain Scribe I was getting to know the higher ranking members of the Brotherhood knew all about aliens and had old records about them. Mr House had them too. I had to wonder how'd he'd gotten copies.

Some advanced human technologies had to have been created by using alien technology, such as the AI project number 59234, created in the 2050s, which managed the entire Sierra Army Depot, an AI worryingly called Skynet,

It was also possible that the zetans may have had some influence on the Great War, evidenced by a recording taken from one of the alien Motherships which had found its way into Mr House's computer suggested as much.

In this recording, a soldier (or other military official) of the United States was heard as he attempted to resist the zetans' attempts to probe his mind for information, one subject in particular, the United States' nuclear launch codes.

It is unknown whether or not the zetans were successful in their attempts, or if they used the codes even if successful. Although we may never know for sure, the idea that the zetans used the nuclear launch codes to "kick off" the Great War is possible.

To me this made some sense as if the aliens had been observing humans for centuries they must have been worried about mankind's rapid advancement. The aliens had been using the same tech for hundreds of years, maybe even longer, while humans had made leaps in bounds with their tech. Perhaps the aliens had helped to bring about a nuclear war so that the people of this Earth wouldn't become a threat to them.

Once Seven was up and running I'd have look for the existence of any more aliens in this solar system. If they didn't have FTL drive then they would need a mothership here to keep the smaller craft supplied and perhaps even a base in system.

Physically the aliens were diminutive, hairless, yellowish-green-skinned humanoids with short, wiry limbs and green blood. Their heads were disproportionately large, with round, heavy-lidded, solid black eyeballs with no discernible iris or pupil. Also they had a thin, toothless mouth with a green tongue, and two pairs of small holes where ears and nostrils would be.

Unlike humans the aliens had no opposable thumbs, each hand instead having three long, tentacle-like fingers with large suction cups on each fingertip, and this allowed them to manipulate objects. They breathed a similar atmosphere to humans as far as I could tell. Which made me wonder if they had any plans to colonise this planet.

My Perk which allowed me know when a world ending event would take place remained quiet so I didn't think a large alien invasion was coming, at least not within a century, but that didn't mean they weren't a threat to this world or to my group.

The aliens seemed to have a strict society focused on work and progress of their mission, whatever that happened to be, with no apparent concern for hobbies or any personal pursuits, at least according the info I had on hand. They reminded me a little of the Collectors in that way. Their architecture was spartan and purely functional. They had no discernible means of entertainment or art, or any signs of any culture.

Worryingly they viewed other species, even humans as laboratory animals, worthy of preservation and storage at best or vivisection and experimentation at worst. They spoke in their own language of high-pitched screeches and wails. As such, communication between humans and aliens was considered to be impossible. However I should be able to speak to them as I had a Perk for that and universal translator technology.

In terms of technology the alien were incredibly advanced in their various technological fields, capable of spaceflight and technological feats equal to, and often well beyond, that of even the most advanced human pre-War technology. They also possessed technologies such as long-term cryostasis, powerful rayguns, genetic manipulation, teleportation and holograms.

When it came to fighting they were totally dependent on technology, because they are physically fragile, lacking in raw strength and ineffective in melee-based combat. They didn't even try to compensate for this with armour.

The aliens typically wore spacesuits, the colour of the suit apparently indicating rank, and soldiers generally carried weapons called shock batons, disintegrators and atomizers. They preferred to attack their foes in large numbers, and sometimes took devices called guardian drones with them into battle. Which I hadn't seen as of yet.

After reviewing this information I went over to Tali who was handling the tech side of things when it came to these aliens.

"What can you tell me about their weapons?" I asked.

She showed me the two alien guns, one I'd gotten from the pilot of the crashed craft, which she and Seven could examine later, the other we'd found in the small ship's cockpit.

"The bigger weapon I'm calling the Alien Blaster" Tali'Zorah told me "Not that its very big. The smaller I've named the Alien Blaster Pistol".

Both of the guns looked like toys, and they didn't weight much at all.

"Anyone who gets shot by either of these weapon will be disintegrated into ash" Tali was now saying "Its not as effective as a phaser on a high setting, but its power cells are much easier to reload, and you get more shots on a high level before you need to reload".

I knew that the more powerful Trek hand held weapons could vaporise small buildings on a high setting, however doing so rapidly depleted the weapon's power and reloading a phaser wasn't a simple thing to do. This Alien Blaster had small power cells that could be easily loaded into the gun.

"The larger blaster is about 50 percent more powerful than the pistol and not that much bigger so my thinking is that the pistol is a backup weapon for emergencies like a crash if the pilot somehow loses the blaster or somehow has his sidearm damaged" said Tali "Seems sensible".

She turned to face me.

"What do you want to do with them?" she asked.

I gave it some thought.

"You can have the pistol to take apart and study" I told her "I'll take the blaster. I like a new toy".

Tali muttered something that may have been 'boys'.

"I get a lot more respect from my newer companions" I mentioned.

Tali smirked.

"They didn't know when back in the old days when you used to hide behind Shepard" the alien babe commented "and didn't know which way to hold a hydrospanner".

That had been a very long time ago. I was vastly more experienced, intelligent, powerful than I'd been back then, and hopefully a lot more wise.

"I never hid directly behind Shepard" I corrected "I was more behind her and a bit to the side so I could shoot at whatever was shooting at her".

Well at least having Tali around would keep me somewhat humble, but I did like a little flattery. Thankfully I had girls who'd provide that, and the combat engineer was loyal to me, always doing what I needed her to do, this was what really mattered.


	6. Chapter 6

**Jump Chain Gothic 9 - New Vegas **

**Part 6**

**Vault 34. ****Mojave ****Wasteland.**

We only just gotten inside and already the Geiger counter built onto my armour was clicking away, however this didn't worry me much as the armour this expedition group, which was made up of Triss, Cameron and I, were wearing could protect us from this. The armour I wore was modified versions of Vanir environment suits, with this armour I could spend time in the most toxic of places without much concern.

I took off my helmet and looked behind me; everyone was kitted out and looked ready to fight. Triss was wearing Desert Ranger armour, but that was no surprise, and already Tali had supped up the armour so that the Courier could join us on this mission without fear of becoming a mutant or simply dying.

Cameron wore the same kind of armour as me since her outer organic shell could be effected by long term exposer to radiation. Veronica wore the Brotherhood Power Armour suit that we'd gotten from the Ranger Safehouse. Tali had worked on this set as well. Improving it as much as possible in the time allowed.

"That's a lot of ghouls" I heard the scribe mutter.

She wasn't kidding. It was like a convention down there in the lobby's main vault. Most of them were wearing scraps of clothes, and even from this distance I could make out the blue and gold of torn Vault jumpsuits hanging loosely off their emaciated and skinless frames. These people must have been Vault Dwellers at some point now their minds and bodies had rotted away.

"So, how're we gonna handle this, Boss?" Triss asked.

Violence looked like the only way to me.

"We could always try sneaking past them?" Veronica offered up "We've all got cloaking devices".

That we did, but these weren't phase cloaks so they wouldn't keep us safe if the ghouls could sense things without needing their eyes.

"You know what? Fuck it" I said while taking out the Alien Blaster, my new toy "Sneaking is gonna be too complicated. Let's just start here, and kill every motherfucker between us and our prise".

We were here for a pulse gun, an advanced weapon that Veronica thought would be good enough to get me into the Brotherhood Bunker, which I needed to get inside, in order to deal with them. An Independent Vegas victory required them to be dealt with. Hopefully I'd be able to convince them to leave Vegas and go join another chapter of their organisation, rather than destroy the chapter.

The next few minutes were a bit of a blur. I switched my gun for my saber and got in close as did Veronica who still used her power fist, which had been upgraded by me personally just last night. It now had a proper power field around it and with that there wasn't much the scribe couldn't punch her way through.

"We all good?" I asked as soon as the last feral went down.

"No contacts," Cameron reported.

"Are we going down there, or what?" Triss asked.

This Vault was an absolute dump we soon discovered. There didn't seem to be a single piece of metal down here that wasn't covered in rust or corroded and lot of surfaces had holes in them. Half the time when we tried going down corridors, they were blocked off by debris, or were collapsed entirely. Wires and metal were hanging out of the broken ceiling panels, the floors were covered in trash, half-eaten body parts, or radioactive goo that made my Geiger counter spike, and every pane of glass was shattered. Only about half the lights were even working.

Plus there was a steady stream of feral ghouls coming at us as we pushed deeper and deeper into the Vault which gave Veronica plenty of chances to try out her improved weapon, and Triss got to make jokes about the scribes love of fisting.

"All the signs pointing to the armoury keep sending us down collapsed tunnels" I said.

If we had phase cloaks that wouldn't be an issue as we could walk through the obstacles, but I hadn't installed that tech into these suits of armour, as they were complex, and the Vault was massive, it could take us a while to find a route to the armoury

"Aw, fuck!" I shouted. "We're gonna be down here for HOURS!".

I opened one of the nearby sliding metal doors, and was immediately face-to-face with a pair of ghouls, who were wearing the tattered remnants of Vault security armour. The one in front of me started to screech, so I kicked it square in the chest and sent it toppling backward, directly into the one behind. I then let Cameron shoot them with her laser pistol, she'd left Princess behind because of the tight quarters down here.

"We're in an underground maze, surrounded by radiation, and feral ghouls that want to rip out our insides and have them for lunch" said Veronica "Boss you take me to all the nicest places".

She was indeed a lucky young woman.

"We should keep moving," Triss said, her voice muffled from within Desert Ranger helmet. "We'll run the risk of getting radiation sickness even with our armour".

A few moments later we were heading down another corridor, and this one had a hole in the ground that might lead somewhere.

"Does anyone have any rope?" Veronica asked "If we find something to tie it to, we could go down the hole, find out where it leads"

As she spoke, I walked over to the hole and looked down.

"I can levitate everyone up when we leave" I said to the group "and its not a big drop".

Then I jumped down the hole, and as soon as I hit the ground, the glowing ghoul in this corridor started to charge me. The one coming at me had its eyes and mouth wide open, shining like flashlights in the darkness.

My lightsaber allowed me to cut the glowing ghoul into a collection of body parts, and when the way was cleared the rest of the group joined me.

"Hey, Boss!" Triss spoke up, while pointing at the wall. "Would you look at this! A sign on the wall pointing to the armoury and the hallway hasn't collapsed!".

We quickly got moving again and it was quite down here, we went down the corridors, seeing nothing and no one.

"Is anyone else concerned that we haven't run into any more ghouls?" Triss asked

I had to admit, she had a point. We'd been walking down this corridor and now another, and we hadn't seen a single ghoul since the glowing one. It was too quite, and I couldn't sense anything, but that didn't mean danger wasn't about, my senses didn't make me all knowing.

"Maybe we killed them all?" Veronica offered up hopefully.

That would be nice.

"I think we're here" Cameron said.

Sure enough, the illuminated sign above the door said "ARMORY" in big block letters. The door was rusted, and looked like it hadn't been touched in several decades.

"You might want to step back," I said.

My lightsaber appeared again and I used it to cut us away into the armoury, which didn't take very long, and soon we were able to head inside.

"Let's see what we can..." I trailed off, finding myself at a loss for words.

This armoury contained assault rifles, carbines, sub-machine guns, pistols, sniper rifles, body armour, rocket launchers, grenade launchers, grenades, explosives, ammunition. Sure I could provide myself with all this stuff, but seeing such a collection of fire power impressed even me.

"We've hit the mother lode!" I said.

Behind me, I heard several indistinct murmurs of agreement.

"The Pulse Gun is an energy weapon, so it should stand out like a sore thumb down here. Once we grab that, we can turn... around... and..." I struggled to say.

For the second time in as many minutes, I was rendered speechless. All around me, I could hear the boots of my compatriots coming to a stop behind me, obviously as captivated as I was by the sight before us.

It was a Fat Man. A shoulder mounted, tactical nuclear catapult was just sitting there. Along with three football sized mini nukes. Slowly, and very carefully, I took hold of the Fat Man, and set it on my shoulder, just to try it out. It was surprisingly light. I was expecting it to weigh a ton, but it didn't.

"This makes me so happy" I told the girls.

"It's definitely you," said Triss "Very macho".

You'd think a guy who'd seen star ships do battle and could command powerful magic wouldn't be so impressed by the killing toys this world had to offer, but the person I'd been before Jump Chain, the guy who played the Fallout for so many hours was still within me, and he was super giddy right now.

"We take it all" I decided "No sense leaving it down here for the ferals".

Veronica found the pulse gun she was looking for as we stripped the place bare, which meant we now had what we needed to earn a little goodwill with the Brotherhood.

(Line Break)

**Hidden Valley. Mojave. Wasteland.**

"It's an underground complex, built by the US military before the war," Veronica explained to me as we approached the bunker "It was designed to be a self-sustainable complex for high ranking members of the military and the government, but the project was abandoned before the bombs dropped".

So one of those places for the VIPs to cower in while the poor people died due a mess created by the VIPs.

"Sounds a bit like the Vaults," I said "Why'd they abandon it?".

Veronica shrugged.

"We don't really know" she admitted "None of the computer systems inside say why the project was cancelled".

By now I could see the way in. The walls of the bunker's entrance were covered in tons of graffiti, and most of it was very anti-establishment.

"I didn't think the Brotherhood were such fans of peace and love" I joked.

There was some standard graffiti to be sure but I saw other things like peace signs and "Give peace a chance," "Ban the bomb," and a picture of a warhead inside a no symbol.

"It's the last place anyone would think to look for us?" Veronica said with a smirk.

That did make a sort of twisted sense.

"Now watch the dust" the scribe warned "When dispersed by the bunkers fans, it'll blanket the valley in a cloud of chaff. It's supposed to make the bunker impossible to target by radar guided missiles, but from the ground it looks like the valley is suffering from a massive, and very concentrated sandstorm".

Thankfully my new friend had already mentioned this so I had googles and a mask. I was dressed in my merc outfit right now as such I should look harmless enough.

Now, remember" the native woman said next "until I get done with the introductions, let me do the talking, alright?".

I nodded, watching as she opened the massive door that led into the complex.

"Hey, this is your show, remember. I'll behave myself" I promised.

We went inside and I closed the door behind us, then we descended the stairs leading deeper into the complex. I wasn't concerned, but I did spent a moment questioning if this was worth while. I did need to leave Mr House an Independent Vegas to rule once I was gone, and that meant dealing with the Brotherhood, and while it didn't matter to me much what happened to this hellhole world once Jump Chain was over I had no desire to make things worse for people, which might happen if I destroyed the Brotherhood.

After a lengthy descent, we found ourselves in large room with walls, floors, and ceiling made out of what looked like concrete. There was hardly any clutter at all, and the only thing I could see was a metal door directly opposite the stairs, and a small intercom.

"I've got this" my companion said.

She cleared her throat, and pressed the button on the intercom.

"I'd like a large Atomic Shake and a double Brahmin Burger" the scribe joked "Go easy on the agave sauce this time".

Soon the speaker on the wall crackled to life.

"We gave you a password, Veronica," a gruff voice replied over the intercom. "It's for your safety and ours".

Veronica just shook her head.

"I know where you live, Ramos!" she yelled "Open up".

The voice on the other end of the intercom sighed heavily.

"Oh, for Pete's sake. Opening up" the male voice said.

The door popped open with a hiss, and slid into the floor.

"Welcome back, Veronica" said the gruff voice.

She turned and smiled before waving me inside.

"Told you I got this" she said.

I stayed still, motioning for her to go on ahead instead.

"After you" I insisted "This is your house, after all".

After a short elevator ride, the two of us were at another set of stairs. Unlike the ones at the entrance to the bunker, everything here looked like it was made out of metal rather than concrete.

"So, how deep does this place go, anyway?" I asked.

"Deep enough to withstand a direct hit from a 100 kiloton nuclear warhead" Veronica let me know "Not that I'd want to test this".

We soon came across a large man who wore power armour.

"Hey, Ramos!" said said to the guy in power armour "Lookin' sharp, as usual".

"Hey yourself, kiddo," he said.

Ramos turned me.

"Listen up, and listen close," he instructed "I'm in charge of security around here. I can't say I'm too happy having an outsider waltzing around. However, since you came in with Veronica... I suppose I'm inclined to cut you a little slack".

This was actually amusing since I could kill the guy with ease, but I pretended to be intimated.

"Uh. Thanks?" I said.

"Just behave yourself, outsider" Ramos was now saying "and we won't have any problems".

Not unless I had to slaughter them all and blow up their bunker.

"Oh, ease up Ramos," Veronica instructed as she rolled her eyes and batted softly at one of Ramos' arms. "I wouldn't have brought him here if he was going to cause trouble. He's fine, you worry too much".

The man known as Ramos looked down at Veronica with a raised eyebrow, and shook his head.

"It's my job to worry, Veronica" he reminded her "You should know that by now"

He smiled down at her, but his smile faded when he looked back at me.

"As for you" he said "The Elder is going to want to talk to you, outsider. You can find McNamara down in the lowest level. Just take a right once you get down there. I suggest you don't keep him waiting".

Might as well not keep the old man waiting.

"Don't worry, Ramos, we're gonna head there straight away" my escort promised.

Veronica grabbed me by the shoulder, led me out of the room, and down yet another set of stairs. This place had a lot of them.

"So, he was... friendly," I muttered as soon as we got out of earshot.

Veronica chuckled.

"Ahh, don't mind Ramos. He just takes his job seriously, that's all" she said to me "Once you get to know him, he's really a giant softy. Like a power armoured teddy bear!".

The bunker had a strange kind of duality about it. On the one hand, the walls felt really close, enough to induce a sense of claustrophobia, but on the other hand it also felt empty. There were people around, they were just few and far between.

"Is it just me," I said, while looking around "Or are people avoiding us?"

Veronica shrugged.

"They're just not used to seeing anyone... new down here" she told me.

I glanced down a corridor as the two of us kept walking and saw a pair of lightly armoured Brotherhood members were staring at us, talking to each other in hushed whispers.

"They think I'm a threat?" I asked.

I was a threat, but they shouldn't be thinking that.

"You have to remember: you're not Brotherhood" she pointed out "As far as they are concerned anyone who isn't Brotherhood is a potential threat".

She turned away and spoke more softly.

"I suppose that's how we got in this situation, hiding in a bunker" she muttered.

The deeper we went, the more crowded things became. It became much harder for people to avoid us, and that was when I discovered that Veronica knew everyone. There must have been several hundred Brotherhood personnel down here, and everyone who passed close enough got a personal, by-name greeting, complete with a nice smile

"So, are you friends with everybody down here?" I asked.

Veronica shrugged while pressing the button to call the elevator.

"They're my family. I grew up with everyone here, so of course I'm going to know their names" she said to me "I wouldn't say I'm friends with everyone. Not all of the hostility around here is directed at you".

When we got into Elder McNamara's office I noted that it really didn't seem much like an office, so much as a missile silo with a desk in the centre instead of a big rocket. The room was a massive cylinder with a domed ceiling, and in the centre was a curved metal desk sitting on a metal platform, surrounded by four thick beams that ran from beneath the metal grates of the floor to the ceiling.

Two Brotherhood members stood guard on either side of the door, they carried Gauss rifles and were in full powered armour. On the right side of the room, I could see a massive backlit topographical map, showing all the Mojave Wasteland. One wall also had the Brotherhood symbol on it.

"Hello, Veronica" said this group's leader.

The silvery-haired, blue robed Elder turned in his seat as soon as the scribe got closer.

"How goes your mission?" he asked.

The acoustics of the room carried his voice so that even from my spot standing close to the door, I could clearly hear what they were saying, even without enhanced senses.

"We'll know in a second," said Veronica more to herself than her boss, who she then turned to address "I wanted to talk to you"

McNamara sighed and shook his head. Clearly, he already knew what she was going to say.

"Veronica, please. Tell me this isn't about..."

I'd come here to make contact with the Brotherhood in the hopes of convincing them to leave, or maybe even ally with New Vegas, but by the sounds of things this meeting would soon turn into a shouting match.

"Yes, goddamn it! It is!" she practically yelled "But you're going to hear me out this time."

"We've been through this," he said.

I'm pretty sure he tried to make his voice sound firm and full of authority, but all it ended up doing was making him sound very tired.

"The things I've seen now" my companion was now saying "Other groups succeeding where we have failed! It's not too late for us to change!".

"We've outlasted the end of the world," replied the Elder "We will outlast these upstarts".

No they wouldn't.

"Outlast them, how?" she asked.

Veronica's voice started to become more agitated, and the effect of that seemed to be amplified by the rooms acoustics.

"By waiting in a hole for everyone else to die!" she shouted.

"If we must" the Elder replied.

Even from this distance, I could see in his eyes that this guy wasn't going to back down. Veronica must know that.

"This is a dead end for us. Can't you see that?" she said.

Veronica's voice was pleading now, but the Elder's expression didn't change.

"No. I see no evidence of that" he said "Nor do I see anyone out there with a solution to our problems".

At this point Veronica hung her head.

"How could you? You're too scared to look!" she yelled.

She turned and walked down the stairs, shaking her head.

"Let's go. We're wasting our time" she said.

Before I knew it, she'd already passed me and was on her way out.

"I'll be with you in a moment" I told her.

When I got close to his desk, I finally got a good look at McNamara. He was clean shaven with a head of silver hair. His face wasn't terribly lined or saggy like you'd expect of someone of his age, and he carried an aura of wisdom about him even if it wasn't the right kind of wisdom.

"When Paladin Ramos informed me that Veronica was approaching with an outsider in tow," McNamara started by saying "I will be honest, I didn't know what to think. After giving the matter some though I've decided that an outsider could be of use to me right now. However, I will not force you to help us. Should you refuse, you will be allowed to leave here, though your actions would still remain Veronica's responsibility while in the bunker. What do you say, outsider? Are you willing to help us?".

I was of two minds about this. On the one hand, I had just heard this guy decrying the people of the outside world, saying that none of us had the answers to his problems, and now he's asking me for help. Not to mention, I wasn't too keen on agreeing to work without first finding out what the work was. But on the other hand, maybe by being the outsider who gave them some aid, I could use this to help sway his mind. Make Veronica's job easier, and, in the long run my own, or at least I hoped.

"What do you need?" I asked.

I still had some time before the big battle began, and if needs be I could just remove these guys from the game board without killing them. I could knock them all out with some sort of big stun weapon, and then take all their cool stuff making them a non-threat.

"Then allow me to explain our situation. This bunker is currently locked down, allowing no entry or exit" he told me "With you and Veronica being one of the few exceptions. However, reconnaissance must still be undertaken. In these cases, teams are sent out to investigate sites or retrieve materials deemed too important to ignore. Three such teams have gone missing recently, and the news of their disappearance has not yet been widely spread, to avoid undue concern".

It seemed clear what he wanted me to do.

"So, you need someone who's not Brotherhood to go looking for them," I reasoned.

McNamara gave me a small smile.

"The fewer who are aware of the situation, the better. My brothers and sisters were deeply traumatised by the losses we incurred several years ago at Helios One" I was informed. "It would be imprudent to worry them unduly without first discovering the facts of the situation".

Hopefully this work wouldn't take up too much of my time.

"Alright, sounds simple enough," I said "So, how do I find them?".

"Talk to Paladin Ramos, before you leave" the Elder instructed "Each of the patrols carried a holotape, detailing their missions. He will give you the data needed to track them through your Pip Boy. The shielding of the bunker prevents us from actively tracking them, but their positions should show up once you're on the surface. If they are still alive, bring them home. But, should our worst fears become realised, then please bring back their identification tags, so that their names may be immortalised in the Scrolls and histories of the Chapter".

With that I turned and left, soon finding my companion waiting for me just outside the office.

"I'd slap him around, but he stood at my parents' wedding" she said "Plus, he used to make excuses to get me out of my punishment when I slept through Taggart's lectures. Figure I owe him for that".

Veronica sighed, collapsing back against the wall.

"He means well, but... he just... I can't get him to see what I see" she muttered.

Yeah I didn't think the Brotherhood Chapter could be helped, they weren't willing to change, and those that failed to adapted, well they died.

"So what now?" I asked.

I was worried; if he was as obstinate as he appeared, then maybe a diplomatic solution really was off the table...

"Listen I'm not giving up," Veronica said as she got up off the wall. "He wants evidence, but he'll never go looking for it".

She cast a glance in the Elder's direction, then looked back at me.

"He's scared that I'm right" she was now saying "He'll never listen unless I hold the proof right in front of his face".

I didn't want to be be filled with false hope.

"You think he'll listen at all?" I asked.

For the first time, real doubt crept into Veronica's features, but then it was quickly washed away.

"He's a stubborn old man" she admitted "I think that's a prerequisite to being Chapter Elder. But when it comes right down to it he's got our best interests at heart. If he sees some indisputable sign we're on the wrong course, then he won't ignore it".

In my judgement this was pointless, but it was something she needed to do before moving on with her life, just like Triss had needed to deal with Benny.

"What, exactly, are you trying to accomplish?" I asked.

Veronica shook her head.

"That's been my question to the Elder for years: what are we trying to accomplish? The Brotherhood collects weapons technology, and for what?" she asked, not waiting for an answer "To keep it out of other people's hands? That clearly hasn't worked. To defend ourselves? We can't compete with the NCR's numbers, or the Legion's. I need to convince him that we've been fighting a war for a lost cause, and if the Brotherhood is going to survive, we have to find a new role in society, and more importantly attract new members".

That was a tall order.

"And how are you going to do that?" I asked.

She considered this.

"Well look at the Followers," Veronica said, simply. "They use their expertise to improve people's lives. They train people to be self-sufficient. That expertise cultivates respect and gratitude. Spreads their ideals. Draws talent to their cause".

That might be somewhere to start.

"Alright, so you need something big to change his mind," I said. "What did you have in mind?"

The look in Veronica's eyes faltered, and she started shaking her head.

"I... I don't know. I don't know. We'd need... I don't know. Something that would show him conclusive proof, something that shows the Brotherhood will fail" she said to me "Or that we can do better a different way. But the only thing that will really grab his attention is technology".

"We still have the pulse gun" I reminded her.

She sighed, and a small, half-smile crept into the corners of her lips.

"Maybe that and something else" she said "Give me some time to think".

I could give her a little time, but not much.

"Your Elder asked me to look into something for him" I told the Scribe "Let's get the details. May if we do the Elder a favour he'll be more inclined to listen to you".

It was worth trying.

(Line Break)

**Penthouse. Lucky 38**

My companion, Veronica, and I begin to settle down for the night after talking a lot about the Brotherhood. So far we'd not come up with anything that should be able to convince the Elder that the Brotherhood needed to change.

"I can't understand why the Brotherhood doesn't listen to you" I said to the scribe "You are sweet and put others first".

After grabbing something to drink from the cooler I plopped my ass next to Veronica's, our bodies were now mere inches apart. I turned to face my companion who looked to be deep in thought.

"Let me ask you something" I said.

She smirked.

"When a mommy and a daddy love each other very much…" she trailed off seeing the look of seriousness I was giving her "Okay shoot. No! Don't shoot! Ask away"

I can't help but laugh at her antics. She was funny sometimes.

"What if Brotherhood can't be helped?" I asked her "What would you do then?".

She gave it some thought.

"I don't know" she said "I want to travel, see more of the world".

Well that was good.

"You can come on Jump Chain with me" I offered "See other worlds, and come back one day. Maybe then you'll have what you need".

I'd been thinking about it and perhaps the Brotherhood Chapter didn't need to be disbanded, I could just leave them, they didn't seem to be a threat no matter what Mr House's files might say and to secure an Independent Vegas I just needed to get rid of the NCR and the Legion while building up a power base here through alliances. That should be enough to obtain a victory.

"Maybe I should" she said to me "But you know that your not a leggy brunette, right?".

Oh yes the whole 'I like girls' issue.

"I'm not lacking for sex" I said to her "As long as you follow orders and don't endanger the group, who you sleep with doesn't bother me, in fact if you don't mind sharing you can sleep with one of my girls".

That last part her laugh.

"Well Triss is sexy, maybe she'd dye her hair for me" she said "but I'm not sure about sharing. Let me think on it".

I'd let her think on it, and while she was doing that I had things to do.


	7. Chapter 7

**Jump Chain Gothic 9 - New Vegas -**

**Part 7**

**Penthouse. New Vegas.**

Happy as I was to have Seven of Nine back, she'd re-spawned as I'd known she would, and I had made sure that she felt okay, I also felt a need to enjoy her since I'd almost lost her.

"Do you desire my body" Seven asked.

Currently we were both sitting on a couch up in the penthouse, we'd been talking about her experience, about how she'd not even realised that she'd died until I'd told her what happened.

"Yes, and I want is mine" I said.

I dropped my hands down from her face, and ran them over the sides of her breasts, over her hips to small of her back, and to her ass, which badly needed to be touched.

"This is mine" I told her "This is all mine".

While flooding her body with pleasure with my near-ascended powers, I undid the zipper on her catsuit.

"This ass. This entire body. This is mine I own it" I told her.

I increased the pleasure that she felling.

"Whose is it?" I wanted to know.

I dialled back on the pleasure so that she could answer me.

"Yo…yours," she gasped before pulling me into a kiss.

Her suit was half off now, hanging around her torso, the bra she was wearing begged to be removed.

"Yes, it's mine" I acknowledged.

I increased the pleasure, and she began to moan, I had to dial it down again so that she could stand up by the window.

"Look at you, my little slut" I said as I got the rest of her bodysuit off "Anyone could see you through that window".

In response she just stepped out of the legs of her suit. I looked her up and down, slowly drinking in the sight of her body, even after all of our years together I still loved the fact that this body was mine to do with as I pleased.

Seven pushed out her breasts, before removing her bra. She was then about to remove her heels, only I stopped her. Tali might remember me as one of Shepard's followers, and while I had spent time with Seven on Voyager she mostly knew me as a leader of nations so she was willing to be ordered around by me, to be totally submissive.

"No, leave them on" I ordered "Turn around. Show me the ass that I own".

She obeyed me by pressing herself up against the glass, and arching her back so her ass stuck out for my viewing pleasure. There was a primal part of me that just wanted to walk up to her and rip her panties off, then just take her right there. But no. Not quite yet.

Instead I walked up behind her, pushed her up against the glass with one hand as my other hand circled her torso and grasped at one of her breasts, kneading it and playing with the nipple, before moving to the other and doing the same. The other hand wandered lower, and pressed against the front of her panties. They didn't do a thing too hide the fact that she was wet.

"Look at you, slut. Naked, pressed up against the window" I said "Such a naughty girl".

My cock was rock hard inside my trousers and I rubbed it in between the cheeks of her ass. She thrusted back against me in response, to grind against me, trying to show me how badly she wanted to be fuck.

"Someone could see you like this" I told her "Be looking up at you, seeing my property".

"Plea- pleh- pleaaaase" she pleaded.

She was begging now, this was excellent.

"Tell me what you want" I ordered.

There was no delay.

"Fuck me" she begged, sounding very unlike she normally did "Fuck my cunt. Please use me. I need your cock inside me. I need you to fuck me until I can't walk".

In response to this I pulled down her panties before backing away so that I could pull down my trouser and let my cock spring forth from its prison, it was eager and ready to go. I saw Seven brace her hands against the window, as I held onto her hips while carefully aligning the tip against her heated folds, before sinking into them with one quick thrust.

"Yes!" she called out.

I drew back and drove in again.

"Does make you feel good, my darling slut?" I asked.

She whimpered and I knew that between the sex and pleasure inducing powers that I'd reduced her to incoherence.

"That's a good girl" I said.

This was when I really started fucking her, and she loved it.

(Line Break)

**Puddle Jumper. Orbit of Earth.**

Samantha Carter had seen some impressive looking things since she'd joined up with Jumper Gothic, and while in the past she'd had a few doubts about joining the Jumper's harem those had long since faded away because she got to see stuff like this.

The Puddle Jumper, which was hidden under a cloak, made its way towards an actual flying saucer, a massive alien mothership, and while she'd seen larger space craft than this none of them had been real life flying saucers. For her this was very cool, and a nice break from dealing with the Boomers as well as investigating some other groups or places that might be of interest to the group.

"I've studied everything we were able to find on this vessel" Seven of Nine was currently saying to the three other people inside the Jumper, who were Samantha, Gothic and Tali "While it defences are currently inactive it is protected by shield technology, and its main weapon is a powerful energy cannon labelled as a death ray which can be used for both orbital strikes on a planet and combat against other space vehicles".

This wasn't all that they knew about the vessel.

"According to what information we have passage between the various sections can be made faster with teleportation matrices that are installed in key points of the ship" Seven said "Similar to the transports used on Ancient city ships and our own Aurora-class".

Given how much time she'd spent on the Thunderchild she was glad that it had an internal transporter network as the vessel was 3 kilometres long.

"These mothership also contains various laboratories for experimentation on living beings and technology required for biological research, experimentation and research, perhaps like the labs on board our vessels. We should recover this data "Seven went on to say "There are also a vast number of storage facilities in which items retrieved from this universe's Earth are stockpiled, and abducted species are kept alive, frozen for preservation in a form of stasis".

By now the Puddle Jumper had brought up some scans.

"Aside from living quarters for the crew, the labs and the bridge, the remainder of the vessel is dedicated to the ship's basic functions as far as we can tell" the former Borg drone told the others "The engineering core in the lower part of the ship provides access to most of the maintenance sections".

While Tali and Samantha carefully studied the scans of the ship that Gothic flew them to, Seven spoke again.

"Not many life signs considering the size of the vessel" the Jumper said.

It was impossible to tell if the life signs came from humans or something else, and they were all aware that people in stasis didn't register on the scans.

"How are we going to get inside?" Tali wondered.

Gothic turned to face her.

"We'll use the phase cloak to get into hanger bay" he said "Remember to suit up in case they vent the atmosphere".

They all wore modified Vanir environment suits so they could survive being exposed to vacuum and in case they were flashed out into space they could trigger their beacons for transport back to the Lucky 38.

Samantha found it odd when the Puddle Jumper passed through the closed hanger bay doors, but that oddness only lasted a moment and was replaced by new strangeness when it turned out that the crew of this ship were humans, at least mostly.

(Line Break)

**Mother Ship. Orbit of Earth.**

While other members of the group met with different members of this ship's crew, Moira Brown of Megaton led Tali'Zorah into the engine room in order to show her the main reactor of the mothership. When she entered and saw the sheer size of the room she couldn't help admiring the sight. She stepped up to the core and placed one hand on it, then immediately pulled the hand back.

"It's warm! There's no radiation leakage, is there?" Tali asked.

The engine core was kept behind what seemed to be glass and it was warm, which proper shielding shouldn't be.

"Oh, no, no no. No radiation here" insisted Moira Brown "That would be bad. No, I think it's not actually glass, but rather some kind of transparent metal that's always warm. At least, I think that's what it is. It's like that elsewhere in the ship too, so it's probably fine".

This was a strange ship, with an odd crew, and Tali could related to that. Their head of security was a Super Mutant, after all, albeit an incredibly well-spoken one. The rest of the crew were people who'd joined up with a man called the Lone Wanderer who was a big hero in another part of the world below.

During his travels this Lone Wanderer had met many people and he'd taken control of this ship with the help of some other people, even destroying another alien mothership, and since then he, along with some others, used the ship as a base.

"Any idea how it works?" Tali asked.

Moira seemed enthusiastic to explain.

"Well, we think it extracts energy from another dimension" she explained "But we can't be totally sure".

Tali scanned with her omni-tool.

"Hmm. We might be able to help you figure it out" offered the engineer "We've got some experience with alien technology".

In fact Tali was an alien, but given the bad experiences the locals had with non-humans she remained in her alternate human form.

"This room leads onto multiple areas. We have the robot assembly area, the cargo hold, the hangar, and the cryo bay" Moira was now saying "Which would you like to see first?"

She wanted to see it all.

"Let's start with the robot assembly area" she said.

(Line Break)

**Mothership. Orbit of Earth.**

Sally and her sister were abducted shortly after the Great War, making her over two hundred years old. Her parents were killed almost immediately once the war had began. After the abduction, the girls were separated, and since then Sally learned that her sister had died during one of the aliens' many experiments.

The bridge of the alien vessel was never silent, no more than it was on the rest of the ship. When Sally sat in the captain's chair, as she often did, she sometimes wished that it would all be quiet. The beeping and whirring, the sound anyone made when they pressed a button, it was a source of constant aggravation for it. She'd hoped she'd get used to it and tune it out, but she never had.

She didn't even have much to do there. Her job was really just to keep a general eye on things She almost wished there was an alien attack so she'd be able to look forward and see something more than the Earth and stars when looking out of viewscreen.

There was the sound of the teleporter behind her, coming from the captain's cabin, and on the screens Sally could see that Moira Brown was having a conversation with someone she'd learned was called Tali'Zorah, which Sally thought to be a pretty name.

Sally turned her chair to see the Lone Wander who'd come out from the captain's cabin talking to Gothic, who was the leader of their little group of visitors

"Our next task is to figure out where the little pricks came from" Gothic was saying "I doubt the one I killed was the last of them, but I don't know where they could be. The ship I came up in has limited sensors".

Sally couldn't help noticing that this Gothic was calm and collected, like Captain Cosmos.

"I can have some of my people figure out this ship for you if your willing to let them study the technology" the Jumper said next "We can also send some supplies in exchange for any bits of alien tech you're willing to spare".

The Lone Wanderer, who also often reminded Sally of her favourite hero Captain Cosmos, considered the offer.

"We can try it for three days" he said to the visitor "we'll meet back here and decide our next step. Anybody have any questions or insights?".

Nobody on the bridge had anything to say. They were probably too taken aback by the whole thing. People from another dimension wanted to help them figure out this ship. Even for them it was odd.

"I'll leave a couple of my people here who have some experience with alien tech" Gothic decided "And I'll have some supplies sent up right away as a goodwill gesture".

Sally was glad to her this, she'd been eating the alien food for far too long.

(Line Break)

**Brotherhood Bunker. Hidden Valley. **

Veronica and I headed back down to the Brotherhood bunker, with all the tags and all the mission holotapes in hand that I'd been requested to find. When the two of us arrived in McNamara's office, everything looked exactly the same. Actually it looked as if McNamara hadn't even moved at all since our last visit.

"Welcome back, Veronica, and you as well, Mr. Gothic" he greeted "Have you found the missing patrols?"

Veronica and I glanced at each other first; her look of unease matched what I felt through the Force. The two of us then walked up the stairs to McNamara's desk, and when we reached it, Veronica set the half-dozen dog tags in front of the Elder. I did the same with the mission holotapes. McNamara visibly grimaced, and sighed heavily.

"They were all dead" he stated rather than asked

I didn't quite know what to say to that.

"Sorry" I said.

McNamara shook his head and composed himself.

"I suppose I'm not surprised" he said "We have few friends in the world above, and many enemies. But we must turn our minds to other matters".

McNamara went quiet, and turned away from us, to the terminal at his desk.

"There is a... sensitive matter that I would like you two to look into. Something top secret, and rather confidential. I need people I can count on, not only to complete the mission, but to maintain operational security. I know I can count on Veronica, but can I count on you, Mr. Gothic?"

Both Veronica and McNamara stared at me, and I could feel the Elder's eyes practically burn into me.

"I want to forge an alliance between the Brotherhood and Mr House" I said "That wouldn't be helped by letting you down".

This was true enough, although once Jump Chain came to an end Mr House might destroy them, but that wasn't my business, and the rate things were going here I didn't think he'd need to bother destroying them.

"The base has a defensive system called DERVISH, that camouflages the entrance, and masks our comings and goings" The Elder said next "Are you familiar with it?"

I nodded.

"When it was created, it was only intended to be used in case of emergencies" the Elder explained "It was never meant to be used with any regularity, and the other systems here were not designed to accommodate such usage".

"What systems?" Veronica asked

Alarm was evident in her voice. I suspected that she already knew what systems.

"The air filtration" the Elder confirmed "It simply cannot handle the quantity of sand and grit that it's been forced to cope with these last few years. Put simply, the air filtration system is failing. When it shuts down, and it will shut down, it will quickly become impossible to..."

At this point Veronica cut him off.

"How long?" she demanded to know.

I could feel her concern.

"Three weeks, at the most. I'm sure you've been able to tell, but already the air quality has begun to worsen" we were told "I need you to find the components that we need to fix the bunker's air filtration system. I cannot overstate the importance of this task".

Without the right parts they'd either suffocate or be forced to leave the bunker.

"We'll get it done, sir." Veronica said, all business. "Where do we start looking for the components?".

"Talk to Senior Knight Lorenzo for the details" the Elder instructed "He's the one who brought the matter to my attention, and is the only other person in the bunker, besides yourselves, who is aware of the problem".

We soon got moving.

"So why didn't you say anything about the Pulse Gun?" I asked Veronica as the two of us searched for Lorenzo. "I mean, we were right there, we could've said something"

Veronica shrugged.

"Tali wants to study the tech, and I think it would be better to give the Elder all the tech at the same time to help get my point across" she answered.

That was fine with me.

Eventually we found Knight Lorenzo in a secluded corner, working on the top half of a set of which was powered armour hanging from the ceiling by a collection of chains and wires.

"Lorenzo?" I called out to try and get his attention.

The Knight stopped wielding.

"Yes? What? Hello?" he asked.

"Lorenzo," Veronica said "Is there somewhere we can talk?"

Senior Knight Lorenzo genuinely looked worried. I checked over my shoulder and I figured that we were far enough away from the rest of the mechanics and scribes around here, and there was more than enough noise to cover up anything we spoke about.

"The Elder wants the two of us to retrieve components to fix the air filtration system" I told the man. "and he wants it kept quiet"

Lorenzo didn't say anything at first. Instead, he looked absolutely mortified.

"Great. Just great. Now I'm going to have your deaths on my conscience, too!" he yelled "That's great!".

Veronica and I exchanged looks of confusion.

"Do you think you're the first people the Elder's trusted with this?" he said next" He's already sent three of our patrols out looking for those components, and they're all dead. I was the one who supplied the Elder with the location of possible sites where we could find the components. Their deaths are my fault".

The Knight sighed.

"Well, don't say you weren't warned" he was now saying "I won't take the blame when you die horribly".

Of course he had no way of knowing the kinds of resources and technology I had at my command, which would prevent me from dying during this mission.

"Tell us what we need to find, Lorenzo" Veronica said, obviously getting a little bit annoyed "Please".

He gave in.

"Right. Sorry. In order to get the system up and running to 100% again, I'm going to need a differential pressure controller, a reverse pulse cleaner, and several HEPA-20 cartridge filters" he told us "At least six, but I'll take more if you can find them".

It would be good if they had spares.

"The places in the Mojave where you'd be able to find them would be the Vaults in the area. Those Vaults were built like the military bunkers we're currently in, even using the same contractors in their constructions at times. Based on the data I've collected, I believe the most likely locations are Vault 3, Vault 11, and Vault 22. If you give me a few minutes, I can download all the information I have to your Pip Boy".

I used an omni-tool but my Scribe companion carried a Pipboy.

"Alright, sounds good," I said as Veronica and I followed him. "Is there anything else?".

Lorenzo stopped mid-stride, and turned back to both of us.

"Good luck, and don't die" he requested of us.

As always I'd do my best.

(Line Break)

**Vault 22. Mojave Wasteland.**

I could see that the plants were spilling from the Vault 22 gate. The ground near where we'd beamed in was covered with a thick carpet of grasses and moss. Strange considering that this was a desert, and the closer we got to the vault's entrance the foliage just got thicker and thicker.

There were bushes, trees, vines, and that was just the green stuff. There must have been a dozen species of multi-coloured flowers. Some of which seemed unnatural and when I reached out with the Force my feeling of unease were confirmed. There was something very wrong here.

That wasn't the most worrying thing, however. The most worrying thing was right near the entrance: a giant metal sign.

"Stay out!" Veronica said aloud, reading the spray painted sign. "The plants kill!".

She'd come with us because the Brotherhood Bunker needed something called a HEPA 20 cartridge filter which the Brotherhood needed to repair the air filtration system in their bunker. According to the information we'd gotten from different sources, including the Brotherhood, there might also be a AER14 prototype laser rifle which had been in development before the Great War. It could be worth studying and adding to my collection of weapons within the Cosmic Warehouse. Also there could be useful data down there.

"That's rather ominous and foreboding" Triss said "Assuming I'm using those words right".

Her words were supported by the fact that a group of giant bugs tried to kill us a few seconds later. Once the shooting was done I noticed that Veronica was kneeling down, looking at something in the tall grasses. When she emerged, she was holding a giant mantis carcass up by one of its legs.

"Holy hell!" Veronica said "I've never seen mantises mutated this big before! What are they eating?".

"Hopefully not us" Triss muttered

Soon the Vault door ahead of us. Unlike the other Vault I'd seen, the one full of Fiends, the circular gear-shaped door was already open, but not all the way. There were thick vines wrapped around the edges of the door, snaking their way outside from within. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that the vines had forcibly opened the door, and pushed it partly out of the way so they could get out. Giving me a 'Day of the Triffids' vibe. Which made me glad we had helmets one as these plants might go for the eyes.

That feeling of unease was just getting worse the deeper we went into the large underground bunker. The interior layout of this vault was totally different from the last vault I'd been in. I could only blame the plants for the strange interior layout, they made this place seem very alien.

The concrete walls of the hallways could still be seen here and there, but they were only just barely visible. Rust and dirt had covered most of the hallways and rooms, this place had been decaying as the plants grew.

Something was definitely wrong here, I knew that for certain. The deeper we went, the thicker the foliage got. There were UV lights down here providing the plants with light, but no sign of anyone to maintain the equipment.

"Hold up" said Cameron as we about to round the next corner. "I hear something".

Since she had superior hearing to the rest of us I trusted her. When I peeked around the corner I saw there was a figure with no hair at the other end of the hall, standing over something that I couldn't see.

"What do you see?" I heard Veronica whisper behind me.

The creature must have heard something as I saw the figure begin to move, to turn in our direction, it looked a lot like a feral ghoul, only green. Some sort of plant person. It was vaguely humanoid, with long talon-tipped hands and feet, as well as a snarling mouth filled with teeth. Also it was covered from head to toe in moss. It didn't have any eyes, and I saw a cluster of spine-looking things sticking out of its back. He came at us, and was followed by another, then two more.

The strange creatures leapt towards us and everything erupted in gunfire. I managed to hit one, but it was fast, a lot faster than I was expecting, and it didn't help was that they were able apparently able to cling to the ceiling.

One got close, but the scribe punched it in the face with her power fist, an act that turned out to be very effective.

"Guns don't seem to work" Triss pointed out "We need to burn them!"

I quickly used my magical powers to burn the plant people, a spell I'd picked up while visiting the land of Skyrim.

"What the fuck were those things?" Veronica asked.

A good question. I took some scans with my omni-tool, and found this plant man was indeed a plant man, a fusion of the two, flesh and foliage.

"These are the former inhabitants" I surmised "Vault Tech set up a lot of experiments using the people sealed in the vaults. This must be the result of one of them".

Soon I was leading the group further down. The amount of spores in the air were increasing and I got the feeling that these spores could transform humans into the plant people. That was something to be avoided, best to avoid spending too much time down here even with our armour on.

"Where are we going?" Veronica asked after a while.

"The lowest level of the Vault" I told her "If we can find the source, then we can shut all this down. All the Vaults have a self destruct".

Triss placed a hand on my shoulder.

"What do you know about the experiments?" she wished to know.

Not as much as I'd like to, which was why I wanted to find the source of all this so that I could figure everything out.

"The Vaults were never meant to save anyone" I said "They were meant to provide Vault Tech with test subjects".

While I couldn't see her face I could sense the Courier's confusion.

"I thought the Vaults were supposed to be fallout shelters?" she asked.

So it appeared.

"No the Vault programs were a series of massive social experiments, engineered by Vault-Tec and bankrolled by the people who would become the Enclave" I explained to everyone "They wanted to see how humans would react to various different environments, and the stresses of isolation for extended periods. Technically, they wanted to test the feasibility of travelling to another world and colonising it after this one had been blown to shit, but really I think the Vault-Tec engineers were just taking the piss at the end. Almost every Vault I've read about different 'experiment' and they've all been nuts. Some of them were innocent enough, but most of them ended up like this place: everyone dead, and the place filled with dangerous monsters, or ghouls, or whatever".

Thinking on perhaps the people who'd died in the nuclear inferno when the bombs dropped had been the lucky ones.

"Hang on," Veronica chimed in. "You said all of this was a side effect of this Vault's experiment. What was the experiment?"

It wasn't me who answered, this time Cortana who spoke.

"This Vault didn't have any food preservatives" she explained "So in order to feed the population, the scientists living here had to develop plants that could grow in incredibly hostile conditions and still produce enough food to feed the Vault's population".

Triss snorted.

"Guess they failed" she said.

I didn't think so.

"No it worked too well, look around you" the AI was now saying "They just didn't account for any of the side effects".

The sooner we got out of her with the tech and data we desired the better. We'd grab it, blow this place, and go home, or at least back to the casino.

(Line Break)

**Brotherhood Bunker. Hidden Valley.**

"Welcome outsider, welcome!" McNamara said with a surprisingly jovial tone of voice as the two of us entered his office. "And Veronica as well, welcome back!".

Rather then reply I gave him a nod as we made our way up the steps to his desk.

"I take it you've heard the good news?" I asked.

He nodded with a smile.

"Yes, I just received word from Senior Knight Lorenzo. He tells me the parts that you acquired were in excellent condition, and he is installing them as we speak" we were told "You have proven yourself to be a trusted ally to the Brotherhood. Thank you".

Well things seemed to be going well so far.

"I was hoping that we could discuss an alliance between the Brotherhood and New Vegas" I said to the Elder "But first listen to Veronica for a few minutes"

With that, I stepped back down, letting Veronica get front and centre. He looked at me, back at her, then back to me, and finally settled on Veronica.

"Veronica, I hope.."

She interrupted him.

"I brought you a present," Veronica said while setting the Pulse Gun on his desk. "This is a Pulse Gun. It was developed by the pre-war military for the sole purpose of disabling power armour. Just one of these could defeat the whole Brotherhood. This proves that we need to stop limiting our focus on military technology, it's not going to save us".

McNamara stared at the gun as she spoke, and finally looked up at her with a stern expression when she finished.

"Veronica, this weapon could be the only one of its kind" he said.

It wasn't as thanks to Tali we could now replicate the technology.

"That's not the point!" she shouted. "Technology alone isn't going to win our wars for us. We need numbers, new recruits!".

I knew this was pointless, and while I might be able to form an alliance I didn't think that would achieve much really. I just wanted this over and done with at this point.

"What does the Codex say?" McNamara asked.

Veronica sighed and looked away.

"A bunch of closed-minded bullshit" was her answer.

McNamara sighed.

"We do not help them or let them in" he said

The way he spoke made it sound as if he was merely rattling off a specific passage from memory.

"We keep knowledge that they must never have" he then added.

"Give it a chance," Veronica urged her superior "For me. I... I can't stay here and watch us waste away!"

McNamara shook his head.

"I'm sorry" he said.

"But... we'll die out..." Veronic said

McNamara sighed, his voice going nearly as quiet.

"I know," he almost whispered.

Veronica looked at him one last time, the corners of her eyes starting to glisten, before turning on her heel and walking away from his desk.

"Come on," she said to me. "I... can't listen to this any more".

On the way out my Scribe companion told me that she wanted to come with me because there was nothing left for her. I agreed with this and decided to leave the Brotherhood alone. They could die down here. Time to move on.


	8. Chapter 8

**Jump Chain Gothic 9 - New Vegas**

**Part 8**

**Nellis Air Base. Mojave ****Wasteland.**

Samantha Carter, who was currently up on the alien mothership, trying to figure that vessel out (not just its technology, but what knowledge it contained) as I wanted to know if the aliens had a base in this system or not, or other ships in the area, remained very busy, as such she couldn't finish forming an alliance with the Boomers.

Therefore I would have to do the remaining work, this was important as I would need their help for the coming battle. As for that battle everything was coming along nicely. The Great Khans, those who weren't dead, had buggered off somewhere I didn't care about, and Cameron was still out taking out troublemakers who helped to make the wasteland and even more dangerous place.

My other girls were busy gathering and studying local tech, while Miranda kept things organised, and my magic girls were spending some time in stasis since there wasn't much for them to do here. Lucky for them we wouldn't be in this reality for much longer.

Which left Veronica, Triss and I to met with the Boomers, to get them sorted so they could help during the big battle that might be only days away. Intelligence reports showed that the NCR and the Legion were both massing troops near the dam. I might not have much time in this Jump and I certainty didn't want to hang around after the final battle even if that been an option as already Seven had died once during this Jump.

"Alright, here's a puzzler for you," Veronica said as we walked into the hanger "I've read about Nellis. The Brotherhood has files on every old-world military installation from before the bombs. Nellis is an Air Force base. So what are howitzers doing here?".

I didn't know enough about this world's military to forces to know if having howitzers here was odd or not.

"Well, they weren't here originally" answered one of the Boomers "We found the guns at a huge weapon depot many miles north of here. It took weeks to drag the guns and their ammunition back to Nellis, and it was the last time any of us set foot beyond our homeland".

And they used the big guns to keep this base safe from all the nasty things and people out there.

"Alright, so that explains the howitzers," I said. "One thing I'm curious about, how do you know to fly the bomber?".

This wasn't something you could learn from a manual. I had the memories of System Alliance military training so I knew that all military vehicles were hard to fly. Although the bomber should be simple compared to a shuttle or a Mako.

"When we finally restored power to the base, we learned that some elaborate chairs we'd been sleeping in were actually virtual reality simulators, one of them we traded with already" the Boomer told us "We believe they were used to train combat pilots before the warheads fell. I alone have shot down over 500 Chines Xian-85 fighters, and flown over 1000 simulated sorties for the Lockreed F-42c!".

Since I'd flown space ships in combat missions that decided the fate of a galaxy I wasn't at all impressed.

"So tell me about this bomber" I requested.

This was part of why we were here, that the solar panels.

"Loyal, one of our elders responsible for repairs in the maintenance wing, found a file somewhere on the base, complete with magazine articles, photographs, and a map" we were told "It seems that a bomber, the 29th of its kind, crashed in Lake Mead on July 21st, 1948. Just imagine, that's over 300 years ago! The photographs showed that it was basically intact, and the map tells us exactly where to find it. But we haven't left Nellis in decades".

Which was why my group had to go salvage the bomber.

"I can't imagine that would be easy to dredge up from the depths of that lake," said Triss with a chuckle. "You'd need a hell of a crane".

There were other ways, a tractor beam, or I could tag the bomber with beacons for beaming to somewhere else.

"No you wouldn't," Veronica said, shaking her head "You'd just need to attach ballast to the plane to make it buoyant enough to rise the surface, and then those Mr. Gutsy's they have around could haul it back for repairs. I'll help with the repairs".

Well that was one way of doing in.

"Yes!" Pete, that might be a name, was now saying "In fact, that's exactly what Loyal has planned to do. You should definitely go talk to him about it, and the solar panels".

Sounded like a plan to me.

"We will" I said.

Time to get a bomber up and running, but first some solar panels, the fun never ended for me and mine.

(Line Break)

**HELIOS One. Mojave Wasteland**

Constructed before the war by Poseidon Energy, HELIOS One was a concentrated solar energy plant consisting of an enormous array of reflectors and the power plant itself which housed steam turbines and all of the machines required to transform the energy into usable electricity.

The plant has been damaged extensively since the Great War, and more recently due to the conflict between the New California Republic and the Brotherhood of Steel forces here in the Mojave.

Now, only a third of its reflectors were still fully intact and able to fully rotate. To make matters worse, various issues in the plant itself made the energy transfer inefficient, meaning that the plant was operating far under potential.

The NCR didn't possess the scientific knowledge to get the plant in ideal shape, and both the Followers of the Apocalypse and the Brotherhood of Steel were reticent to help for political reasons.

As a pre-War installation, HELIOS One was hailed as the "Dawn of a Golden Age" by Poseidon Energy. The Brotherhood of Steel discovered the facility and were trying to determine how the plant worked when the NCR initiated Operation: Sunburst in order to wrest it from their control.

Before the Brotherhood abandoned the facility, they put it in a nearly inactive state and armed the pre-War security system. Despite the NCR's best efforts, they'd had no luck in getting the plant to work to its potential or in deactivating the security system.

"You know, I've been meaning to ask," I said to Veronica as we entered the power plant "How did you manage to escape when the NCR took over this place?".

She looked a little sheepish.

"Well I wasn't actually here during the attack," Veronica admitted "When the NCR arrived, I was at the 188 trading post because even before we retreated underground, I still had to leave all the time to search for supplies. When I left, it felt like just another supply run, but when I came back the Brotherhood was already gone so I went back to the 188 stop for a while. Eventually I went to the bunker".

Made sense since she was a scribe not a knight, she wasn't meant to fight as a solider.

"I was never actually told about ARCHIMEDES," Veronica went to say "I don't think Elder Elijah trusted anyone other than himself with any of the research. I didn't need to know, so I was never told".

While I understood operational security, Triss did not

"So... what? Does the Brotherhood just keep its people in the dark then?" the red head asked, sounding a little bit confused "Doesn't sound very trusting".

"Information can be a weapon" said Veronica "and the fewer people who know something, the safer the information becomes. All I knew for certain was that there was something named ARCHIMEDES inside Helios, and Elder Elijah seemed to think it was important".

Since I did trust these two I told them that ARCHIMEDES was in fact a weapons platform.

"Look, when we decided to come here, I was under the impression we were just going to steal some solar panels, and restart the generators!" Veronica almost shouted "Not start messing with a super weapon".

We were here for the solar panels and the weapon, which could be useful to me, but more likely it would just be something we would study.

"I'm going to need your help, Veronica," I said as I turned to face her "You told me that you know where the spare solar panel parts are kept, so lets go find them. Then we can discuss ARCHIMEDES".

(Line Break)

**HELIOS One. Mojave Wasteland**

As it turned out finding all the spare parts the Boomer needed for their solar power hadn't been difficult at all. I'd thought it was going to be a lot more complicated than it actually was, and that I'd have to replicate some parts after all. Mostly this was made easy due to Veronica's extensive knowledge of the area

"How are you we going to get this out of here?" the Courier asked while looking at our haul "I mean, this isn't exactly subtle. If we try and carry this out the front door we'll be seen and the panels are too big to fit in those bigger on the inside pouches".

For a moment I pictured us trying to get past the guards that I'd convinced to let us in here to see if we could help get the generators up and running, while holding frames and parts for the big solar panels. It was an amusing image in my mind, the three of trying to sneak past the heavily armed soldiers.

Of course this wouldn't work, but I had a solution for our problem. Using my wand I made all the parts so small you'd think they come from a model kit. Then they easily fitted inside on the pouches.

"Now they'll fit" I said to the scribe "I'll make them the right size later on".

With that job over and done with it was time to explore the rest of this place.

(Line Break)

**HELIOS One. Mojave Wasteland**

"Alright Veronica, what can we expect down here?" I asked, as the heavy metal door slid shut behind us "Security bots, automated defences, that sort of thing?".

After we'd unlocked some terminals on the outside, and had opened up the only hatch that led into the tower in the centre of the solar panel field. I'd thought that we'd find ourselves in an elevator, but instead, the big door opened onto a set of stairs, going down, not up. In this world going underground rarely ended well.

"It might be any number of things," she said while taking point, going down the wide staircase as the three of us descended into the darkness. "One of the so called experts I spoke to mentioned security system, and a few soldiers being killed the last time they tried to enter here, and knowing Elder Elijah, there could be any number of things in our way".

While defences wouldn't normally worry me, but we were vulnerable. While Triss wore her armour, but Veronica and I only had our normal outfits to protect us. Granted they were made from the best materials I could supply and we had kinetic barriers, but I'd have felt better if we had more amour.

"SECURITY LOCKDOWN IN EFFECT. HOSTILE TARGETS ACQUIRED! COMMENCING NEUTRALISATION. NEUTRALISATION BY LETHAL AUTHORISED".

"The fuck is that?!" Triss yelled,

If Veronica said anything in response, I couldn't hear it as there was a whine like a jet turbine spinning up, and the air above us was filled with the sounds of dozens of rounds flying through the air.

Now I was realising that the automated defences had to include miniguns, because I couldn't think of any other kinds of guns that fired that fast, and to make matters worse our kinetic barriers did have limits.

"YOU HAVE ENTERED A SECURITY ZONE. LETHAL FORCE WILL BE USED"

The voice boomed during a pause in the barrage of bullets.

"Sentry bot!" the scribe yelled.

I could barely hear Veronica trying to shout over the noise, nor could I hear myself as I used a powerful spell that seemed to freeze time. The sensation of time slowing to a crawl gave me the opportunity to appreciate just what was trying to kill us.

The robot was basically a massive, vaguely-humanoid torso sitting on top of thick tripod legs, each of which ended in giant, treaded all-terrain wheels. There was a missile launcher on the end of one arm, and a six-barrel Gatling gun on the end of the other. It didn't look like a robot so much as a small tank.

Using a powerful spell I'd learn while in the Merlin verse I'd slowed the flow of time until everything seemed to be frozen. Since I knew that the spell wouldn't last for long I moved as quickly as I could while taking out my lightsaber. I slashed at the sentry bot as I ran past it, and then time became normal again.

I felt an explosion behind me even as I came face to face with another Sentry bot.

"ENGAGING HOSTILE TARGET!"

Before it could fire its missile launcher I used my mind powers to crush the barrel of the launcher. Then I was forced to move out of the way as the bot opened up with its minigun. When the bot moved down the corridor, trying to find me, I attacked in a blur as I destroyed it with my lightsabre.

"So, Elijah activated sentry bots before he left" Veronica said once I'd dealt with the bots.

She didn't ask how I'd dealt with the bots and it was something we could discuss later if needs be.

"Looks that way" I said "There are probably more deeper in the facility".

Triss didn't take that news well and I learned a few new swear words that must have come into use since the bombs had dropped.

Things went far more smoothly, now that we knew exactly what we were up against. It wasn't all sentry bots, there were maybe half a dozen protectrons, and those went down easily enough since I'd dealt with them before. Along the way we found some pulse grenades. It was always handy to have a localised EMP coupled with a miniature electrical storm specifically engineered to fry electronics when you're fighting robots. They came in very handy when we ran into more sentry bots, as those things were tough. I'd have to study them so I could build my own with some improved tech.

"How much further until we get to the mainframe?" I heard Triss ask from behind me.

The last protectron fell to the ground with a clatter.

"I'm not sure," Veronica said.

Both the Courier and I stopped immediately so that we could turn to look at the Scribe.

"You don't know?" I asked.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Triss asked at the same time.

The hooded woman shrugged.

"I mean, I don't know. I never actually came down to this part of Helios" she told us "This is beyond the restricted level Elder Elijah set up".

The elevator doors slid open with a creak, which meant that this place at least had enough power for that.

(Line Break)

**HELIOS One. Mojave Wasteland**

The elevator doors slowly ground open, complete with requisite dust cloud, as well as some rust and grime. Once the dust settled we were presented with the lovely view of a large room full of mainframes, cables, and a lot of terminals.

"I was expecting more" I said as I stepped out of the elevator door "This isn't very impressive".

Well looks didn't matter much in this case.

"Find the controls to operate the power plant, and information on ARCHIMEDES" I ordered "Once we get this place up and running as a power plant we can had it over to the NCR".

Mr House could take control of this place later on if he wished, but he would not get the weapon.

There was a terminal, but it seemed to be locked, thankfully it wasn't too hard to crack.

"Well, I got into the system" I told the two girls, who were in other parts of this room "but it's not giving me any options. It says something about low power".

'Please repair mainframe generator before attempting to access power grid options'

This could be a lot of work and I was about to start when I saw the Mr. Handy that was now floating toward me. The spherical, octopus-armed robot with three eye stalks was honestly not something I was expecting to see. Apparently Triss had gotten it online.

"Mind explaining the robot?" I asked.

"Welcome employees" said the robot "I hope you are having a productive day".

This was odd.

"And why it thinks we work here?" Veronica added.

I couldn't see her face, but I knew that she a smug grin plastered on it as he held up some ID cards.

"They're Poseidon Energy employee ID cards" she explained "I had your AI alter them for us so the bots think we all work here".

Veronica and I looked at each other, then back to at Triss.

"How did you know how to do that?" Veronica finally asked.

Triss tapped her Pipboy.

"Cortana's linked to this now" she explained.

While the robot and the girls got to work I tried to learn more about this place. Poseidon Energy was certainly more than just a power company before the bombs dropped. That much was obvious, going through the files on the terminals here. One of them mentioned an 'upcoming' visit (upcoming in this case meaning November 2077) by a Brigadier General Scott Lowe of the US Army.

It also mentioned ARCHIMEDES by name, but it didn't mention specifically what it was, what it did, or even where it might be. But that meant whoever was running the show here for this ARCHIMEDES project had serious pull with the pre-war military industrial complex if a General was coming to visit the power plant, and was the only person here allowed to authorised its use for anything other than a test.

There was no doubt in my mind that ARCHIMEDES was the weapon Seven had told me about.

"Boss I found something" the scribe told me "Take a look at this"

She slid a holotape into a slot, and a projector started to hum.

"It's a recording. Of one of the ARCHIMEDES tests," Veronica said, sounding a little upset "Just watch".

The image showed a small column of light appeared out of nowhere, from the top of the image to the bottom, and then it got wider, and wider, getting brighter. There was a flash, and then a mushroom cloud was slowly rising from the spot on the ground where the beam of light had impacted.

"What... what was that?" Triss asked.

Something very dangerous.

"That was the initial test of of ARCHIMEDES," Veronica said, while pointing at the hologram. "It's a satellite in geosynchronous orbit around the planet. It is a space based laser, powered by energy collected by this power station and sent to the orbital weapons platform by way of microwaves. I'm not sure how it finds a target, but the yield on impact is... well, you saw the mushroom cloud".

I understood why she felt concerned.

"If someone got a hold of this and figured out how to activate and target this thing" said Veronica "No one will be safe".

While she was busy contemplating the ramifications of this superweapon, I considered what to do.

"We can't leave this weapon active" I said "It's too dangerous. We've got to find some way to destroy it".

I'd not known how destructive these weapons could be.

"Agreed" I said "I'll have the satellites destroyed".

With the Puddle Jumper that would be simple enough.

"I can wipe all the data" Cortana offered.

"Hold on isn't the Brotherhood's mission to preserve the technology of the old world?" the Courier asked the Scribe "Isn't this sort of a conflict of interest?"

"Yeah, well" Veronica said with a shrug "this is a piece of the old world that the new world can do without."

Assuming all went well we could turn on the power and then get the fuck out of here.

(Line Break)

**Lake. Wasteland.**

While the Puddle Jumper could fly underwater there was no need to make use of the craft for this little mission, and it would better used to transport goods to the alien mothership in orbit while bringing down the tech that the Lone Wanderer willingly traded with us in exchange for resources and help figuring out how to fully control the alien craft.

So I'd gotten Tali to help me fix up one of the old boats here at the lake. Riding on this boat were Triss, Tali and Buddy the cyberdog who'd been getting some upgrades recently so he'd not been coming on missions with us recently.

"I'm worried about how close we are to The Fort," Triss said, sounding very concerned "The Legion has boats, and they can't be happy with us".

Indeed they wouldn't be since I'd met with Ceaser under false pretences and hadn't blown up the weather station as promised. They must know by now that I'd awakened Mr House's army of security bots. As such I felt glad that Cortana would be using E-DE to watch over us.

"Triss you got Loyal's detonator?" I asked.

Soon I'd go under the surface of the water as a Force talent that allowed me to go with oxygen for a decent amount of time.

"Don't worry Boss, got it right here" she assured me "and I'll help keep watch".

This would also be good.

"Be careful down there" Cortana said.

I gave her two thumbs up, or rather I gave ED-E the two thumbs, and fell backwards into the water. I dived as fast as I could, only stopping every so often to make sure the cable connecting me to the boat didn't get tied up on an old shopping trolly or some other junk.

It didn't take long to find the B-29. The shape was unmistakable, even so deep and covered in some kind of underwater plant. The canopy seemed to be crushed, and the right wing looked like it was broken, but the plane was mostly intact. In fact it was intact enough that this crazy scheme of Loyal's just might actually work. With a little help from group.

Moving quickly I swam under the left wing, directly in between the two engines, and pulled the ballast packs from off my backpack. A few minutes later, and both of them were in place. I swam around the B-29 once more and started looking for the cable connecting me to the boat.

I grabbed the cable and kicked off from the top of the B-29 while using the Force for aid. I swam up as fast as I could, doing my best to use the cable as I did know what was in lake, and I didn't want to find out.

A moment later I burst out of the water like I'd been shot from a gun, and then landed on the deck of the small ship in a impressive display of acrobatics.

"Get us back to shore" I ordered.

"Sure thing, Boss" Triss said.

It didn't take long for us to get back to the shore as this boat was rather fast.

"Think we're far enough away?" the scribe wondered.

"Guess we'll find out soon enough" I said.

I grabbed the detonator, flipped open the finger guard, and pulled the trigger. The light on the top of the detonator switched from green to red and started flashing, and then nothing at all happened.

A least for a few moments and then on the surface of the lake was the B-29, with what looked like two massive car airbags under the wings keeping it afloat. It wobbled and swayed, and the right wing looked dangerously close to snapping off completely from the force of being dredged up from the lake floor, but that could be repaired.

"Mission accomplished" I said.

Now the Boomers could take over while I went to get dry.

(Line Break)

**Mothership. Orbit of Earth.**

Not long after recovering the bomber for the Boomers I got called up to the alien craft as Seven of Nine needed to speak with me. I'd brought Triss with me, leaving the repair of the bomber to others.

"Invaders from Mars?" said the Courier "Isn't that a little cliché?".

Perhaps it was, but that didn't concern me.

"They are not from Mars" Seven of Nine said to the Courier "it is merely that they have established their main base within your Solar System on that world".

Well I'd figured that they had a base somewhere around here.

"And we're certain of this?" I asked.

Seven brought up some images.

"I've been monitoring transmissions sent from this ship to the Cydonia Region of Mars" the former Borg drone answered "Once I knew where the signals were going I was able to improve upon this vessel's in order to find their base".

Cydonia was a region on the planet Mars that had attracted much interest from people who studied the red planet as that region contained the so called "Face on Mars" in my universe the image taken by a probe was believed to be just a trick of the light by respectable science types. Only this world there really was a face, an alien face.

Aside from that interesting feature the Cydonia Region was also known for other seemingly artificial structures photographed by space probes before the Great War and those were pyramids, only these weren't tricks of light and shadow, they were alien structures. There was even a landing platform for motherships and well as small structures dotted around the landscape.

"So when are we nuking the place to oblivion?" Triss asked.

That was possible with a few good bombs and a Puddle Jumper, we could fly to Mars and deploy the bombs without much trouble.

"We won't" I said.

This made the Courier confused.

"Why not, boss?" the Courier asked.

"Because the aliens only send the odd ship to obtain samples of genetic material" I explained "As far as we can tell they have no plans to invade or colonise the planet. They haven't even tried to retake their remaining mothership".

Seven spoke next.

"They are on a scientific mission" she said "This mothership is sending data to the alien base which is transmitting to their home world".

If the aliens wanted to wipe out humans they could have and my Judgement Day Perk wasn't warning me about such things happening within the next century.

"We won't be destroying the alien base if it isn't a real threat" I said "They may have played a part in the Great War sure, and if the Lone Wander wants to take this ship to go blow them up that's his business, but we have other things to and we can get alien tech from this ship so no sense to make another enemy".

This was a short Jump and I had other things to worry about.

(Line Break)

**Cosmic Warehouse. Outside of Reality.**

Miranda and I worked upon the next job even though this one hadn't ended as I wanted to be prepared, and I knew this Jump would end soon anyway. I'd never intended to stay in the Fallout world for long. I'd just wanted to do a quick Jump in order to collect some tech a new companion or two and some interesting items. This I had done.

MCU Jump

Budget - 1000cp

Gothic

New York - 950cp

Drop in - 950cp

Soundtrack of the Galaxy - 950cp

Darcy Time - 850cp

Asgardian - 450cp

"I'll need a tougher form for this universe" I said to Miranda "and I should be to enhance it further with enchanted items".

Which I hadn't bothered to much in this universe as for this Jump I'd been focused on technology instead of magic. Now that I plenty of magic and tech I could work on combing the two.

Quad Blasters - 450cp

Asgardian Armor - 450cp

SHIELD Membership - 400cp (part time consultant)

"How can you be a drop in and a member of SHIELD?" Miranda asked.

I'd given this some thought.

"Once we arrive in this world Cortana can get onto the Net and give us all identities" I said to the former Cerberus Operative "I can even use magic to mess with memories so that people will think they've known us for years".

I'd have to run this by Jump Chan, but we should be able to make this work as there was nothing in the setup that prevented SHIELD membership while having a drop in background. I'd figured that the Darcy Time Perk should help with that. Not that I needed much help making sure that I was in the right place at the right time as I'd gotten good at getting involve with major events anyway, but the Perk made sense given the kind of person I was trying to be during this Jump.

In fact it could be a good thing in that role as having no background in the world meant no known family or friends for the bad guys to target, and those I did care about could take care of themselves.

"Morgana inserted us quite well into the Harry Potter Jump and made me realise how much more there is to these setups" I said next "She even made use of the castle we got for defeating the vampires while in Skyrim".

That castle was out somewhere in the wasteland, and since it had defaulted to an empty castle we'd left it alone. In the next Jump I planned for it to be a base for my magic using girls while in the MCU. They could use it as a base while looking for magical stuff.

"Since the reward for bringing about an Independent Vegas is my own casino that can look anything I want then I figured that it could serve as our public front" I said to Miranda "You can run the casino and keep things organised".

Asgardian Armory - 100cp

Expensive yet worth it as I'd be able fill the armoury with my most deadly of weapons and access them a moments notice. Which would save time and effort since reaching into my pouch of holdings for the right weapon took a few seconds. Plus even the pouches could only hold so much.

Also while I did have a Gringotts style vault to store my most dangerous artefacts within having the armoury would allow to me show off to my companions the best weapons I possessed. I plenty of magic swords and other powerful weapons from Skyrim that deserved better than to collect dust in some vault. Not that dust existed in the Cosmic Warehouse.

4 Companions - 0cp

"This Jump comes in two volumes, and the second part is the one with the magical items so for the start of the Jump I'll import you, Tali, Seven and Sam since you've not gotten any Perks or items since Jump Six back when we did Star Wars" I said "the other four companion slots can be filled with whomever I need when I need them. Then in the second volume I'll important Hermione, Luna, Triss and Veronica, if she does come with us, so that they can some perks and items".

This seemed fair to me. My oldest and newest girls would benefit from the MCU Jump.

"I wonder why there is a volume 2 for this Jump" Miranda mused "There never has been before".

Already I'd given the matter some thought.

"I think it has to do with how messed up things get over the ten years we'll be there" I said to her "There are a lot more world or even universe ending events in the second half of this Jump so it makes sense that we'd get a boost half way through. Some of the threats out there could easily destroy if we didn't have time to prepare and 1000cp more half way through. Its also why I ended diverting to Skyrim, and partly why we are here in this world. I figured we'd need more tech and allies".

Companions

Miranda Lawson

New York

Drop In

"The document doesn't say if your starting location is free or not" I told Miranda "So unless Jump Chan protests I'm going to go with you all starting in New York with me at the casino for no charge of CP. I'll add to the notes".

In past Jumps I'd taken advantage of poor wording or lack of definite rules, and some Jumps had a few different versions of their setups so I made sure to use one that suited me best.

Budget - 500cp

Professor of Asskicking - 400cp

Quad Blasters - 400cp

Hanger Bay - 100cp

Quinjet - 0cp

"I need a Hanger Bay so that I can keep any ground vehicles and air craft that we buy in this or future jumps separate" I explained "Plus you don't really need any items or perks to run a casino".

Miranda seemed fine with this. She was well suited to her role within the group, but still it would be nice to get her something for herself.

"You can chose your own fields of expertise" I said to her "I just want you to get something out of this Jump".

With this perk my girls could greatly expand their knowledge in a few different subjects, depending on what they desired to learn more about. The quad blaster were just toys compared to the weapons we already had, but again they deserved something nice for serving me so well.

"I'll give it some thought" she said.

Tali'Zorah

New York

Drop In

Budget - 500cp

Professor of Asskicking - 400cp

Quad Blaster - 400cp

Destroyer Prototype Gun - 200cp

Hydra Stock Pile -0cp

Seven of Nine

New York

"I'll imagine that she'll want to go off in her science ship" I mentioned to Miranda.

Drop In

Budget - 500cp

Professor of Asskicking - 400cp

Helmet of the Stars - 300cp

The Cradle - 100cp

Yaka Arrow - 0cp

Since Seven was already a cyborg another implant shouldn't be a bother to her, and if she did go off by herself or with just Samantha in order to check out the galaxy of MCU then it would be good she had more defences.

Samantha Carter

New York

Drop In

Budget - 500cp

Professor of Asskicking - 400cp

Quad Blaster - 400cp

Thunder Stick - 300cp

Black Widows Bites - 200cp

SHIELD SUV - 0cp

That looked good for now, during the time between Jumps I'd have some time to go through the details withe companions that I'd chosen to start this Jump with me.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author Note**

I know this story isn't a long one, at least when compared to some I've written, but I hoped you all still enjoyed reading it as I enjoyed writing it.

**Jump Chain Gothic 9 - New Vegas**

**Part 9**

**Cocktail Lounge. Lucky 38 Casino.**

Everything seemed quiet, as such we were just hanging out up here while waiting for the final battle to start while others worked somewhere else, spending our last hours in this world studying the alien tech on the Mothership

I sat at a table attempting to get glimpses of the the future with a pack of Tarot cards and a few other items I'd learned to use during Divination classes at Hogwarts. Unlike other students who'd taken that class both Morgana and I actually had some talent for the art.

Morgana, who'd remained in stasis for this short Jump, was better at me at this because she had the gift, or curse, of the Seer. She sometimes dreamed of future events, as could I, and for her crystal balls, Tarot cards and reading tea leaves really worked.

While I had a connection to magic and could have visions given to me by the Force my talent for divination wasn't as accurate as Morgana's, but I didn't feel the need to consult her as the signs all looked good.

Just last night I'd had a clear vision of the future, showing me the bit of the coming battle as well the death of someone who turned out to be the NCR President, I'd sent Cameron to prevent the President's death since it seemed to be the will of the Force, or that of the universe, or something. Now all we could do is wait for the battle

"I've got news" Cortana said as she projected a hologram from my omni-tool "Caesar's Legion has begun its assault on Hoover Dam".

The room erupted in noise and frenzied movement, some of girls were already sorting out their equipment, weapons that had moments ago been in the process of being maintained were picked up even as bits of armour were getting put on.

"QUIET! QUIET! EVERYONE SHUT UP!" I yelled, trying to get everyone to calm down.

This was no time to panic, or to let excitement control our actions.

"How long do we have before the Legion breaks through the final NCR barricade and reaches this side of the Colorado river?" I asked "Give me your best estimate".

It suited me best if both the Legion and the NCR suffered loses before we got involved.

"If the panicked NCR com traffic I'm picking up is any indication then we have maybe half an hour" Cortana let me know "But probably less as the Legion is throwing everything they have at the dam".

As I'd expected they would.

"Then we better get moving" I said "Everyone, gear up and meet me at the Jumper ASAP. We're heading for the battle".

I addressed the hologram.

"Contact our allies" I told her "We'll need them soon".

We'd made some friends here like the Boomers and the folks on the Mothership, it was time to bring them into play.

"Already on it" she told me "Now for weapons and armour. What do you need, boss?".

I gave this some thought.

"The Legion like to get in close, they don't have much in the way of ranged weapons and speed will be important" I said "So I think I'll go for the Sith Stalker Armour".

This suit of armour was something I'd put together during the Star Wars Jump and was actually made for fighting Force Users. The metal of the armour was made up of Lightsaber resistant materials above a layer of the fabric used in Kull warrior armour, which made it good for absorbing energy attacks. It also came with a kinetic barriers of fine quality so bullets wouldn't be too much of a concern. Since the suit was built for mobility it had no cloaking devices, as they weren't much use against Force Users, but I wasn't going to need one.

As I entered the Cosmic Warehouse and began to dress in the armour, which didn't take long as it had been designed to be easily taken on and off, I kept speaking to Cortana.

"Assuming that they do everything right, you'll have a direct line to the B-29 once it's in the air" Cortana told me "The plane is too primitive for me control, even with the upgrades and repair work done to it, but I will be able to guide the pilot and make sure he or she hits the right targets thanks to the satellites. Same for their big guns. We don't want them shelling the wrong people".

Hearing this pleased me.

"Good work," I said.

I grabbed the Alien Blaster in one hand and my helmet in the other. The exotic weapon would make a good side arm for the coming battle.

"We're gonna need the biggest guns we can get for this battle if things go wrong" I said "Make sure the folks on the Mother Ship know this, and that I will signal them if I need the really big guns".

The Lone Wanderer had promised to use his vessel's death ray to destroy the dam if needs be, but hopefully that wouldn't be necessary. Seven of Nine and Samantha Carter were on board the big ship as they wanted to help with the vessel if it was needed, and should we win the battle they'd soon find themselves in the Cosmic Warehouse with the others. If we lost well then they'd be sent home so I might never see them again. However I didn't dwell on this.

"And contact Cameron" I ordered "Tell her starting taking out the Legion".

I didn't put on the helmet just yet, holding under one arm while I opened a case and took out from it very a special weapon. A replica of The Darksaber, which was an ancient black-bladed lightsaber that I'd seen on TV show during one my lives.

Like my replica the Darksaber had a unique blade that was shorter than that of most lightsabers, and shaped more like a traditional sword. Its overall profile was distinctly Mandalorian with an angular pommel, hand guard, and slit-shaped blade emitter. When activated the sound emitted by its blade was also higher pitched than other lightsabers.

Like the favoured weapons of the Sith and Jedi the Darksaber had a crystal within that was attuned to the Force. My version contained a semi-organic crystal that I'd grown while infusing it with Force energy, it was a small version of the crystals used by the Priors of the Ori so it enhanced my Near-Ascended powers, but only by a little due to its rather small size. Still a little could go a long way if used correctly.

The Darksaber was also capable of parrying lightsaber blades, and deflecting fire from energy weapons, but those features wouldn't be of much use to me today as the Legion didn't have energy weapons or lightsabers.

I would have silver-white bladed sabre with me as well, but I rarely duel welded it was just good to have a back up weapon, and that device would reappear at the start of the next Jump should anything happen to it.

As I left the Cosmic Warehouse I saw that Triss was waiting for me. She'd already finished changing having not needed to put on much, and she'd dragged a few luggage cases with her, they must contain things that she wanted to take with her on Jump Chain.

She also had Buddy, the upgraded cyberbog with her, the loyal hound would stay at her side at the battle, and this was good.

"Scary looking armour" she commented.

She was wearing her NCR armour complete with duster, and she carried a multiplas rifle, a plasma-based weapon, which had a similar appearance to the standard plasma rifle for the most. It is most easily distinguished by its three plasma barrels at the rifle's tip, which fire three very destructive rounds of plasma. It used one round per projectile, for a total ammunition consumption of three rounds per trigger press. Which made it a very good thing that we had pouches of holding and bigger on the inside pockets so that we could all carry plenty of extra ammo.

Veronica was here as well. She wore full Brotherhood power armour which she'd painted black. Something to with being in morning for her brothers and sisters in the bunker who were dying a slow death. She carried no weapons that I could, but did have some in her pouch of holding, likely she would only use the power fist which we'd made for her from her old weapon.

"Cameron is already at the dam" I said to the girls "Seven and Sam are the ship. Tali is with the Boomers doing some last second work on the bomber. Miranda will stay here and help coordinate our efforts".

Cortana could do that by herself, but Miranda liked to keep an eye on things, and another person at the battle wouldn't make a difference, and most of the fighting would be done by the bots. I didn't even really need to be there aside for the boss fight, which I was greatly looking forward too.

"If there's anything you want to put in the warehouse then now is the time" I told the girls.

I opened the door so that they could place some luggage cases inside the Cosmic Warehouse before we headed to the Puddle Jumper.

(Line Break)

**Hoover Dam. Colorado River.**

We saw the smoke rising from the dam long before we got there. Huge columns of dirty, oily smoke were rising from behind the ridge, filling the sky all around the dam with ash and fire. The closer we got, the harder it became to find somewhere to land. The only road to the Dam was practically blocked by soldiers running away, and the burning vehicles they were leaving behind. It was clear that the NCR was in full retreat.

As soon as we left the Puddle Jumper, Veronica, Triss and I had to take cover in the Visitors Center because of the sheer mass of people. I almost didn't have time to place a tag on the Jumper, but I did and the craft vanished in white light. I'd arranged for our beaming tech to be installed on the Mother Ship and that Puddle Jumper could be flown by the Lone Wanderer who'd been given the ATA gene and the Jumper in exchange for all the alien tech that they'd been willing to spare.

While I could have used the drones on the Puddle Jumper to turn the tide of this battle I wanted to have some fun here and fight on the ground. Sure this involved risk but as Friedrich Nietzsche once said 'The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from life is to live dangerously'.

I peered around the corner to get a look at what all the NCR soldiers were running from. It was a lot worse than I was expecting. The stone walls were practically painted red with blood, and bodies were littered absolutely everywhere.

Then I saw the Legion troops. They were standing shoulder to shoulder, filling the entire path with bodies, marching slowly and steadily behind a phalanx of what I guessed to be riot shields as well bits of armour taken from robots. As they moved spears stabbed out. I could barely see any of the Legion troops behind their mobile cover. This battle tactic was based upon a Roman one.

In the testudo formation, or turtle formation as it was sometimes called, the men would align their shields to form a packed formation covered with shields on the front and top. The first row of men would hold their shields from about the height of their shins to their eyes, so as to cover the formation's front. The shields would be held in such a way that they presented a shield wall to all sides.

The men in the back ranks would place their shields over their heads to protect the formation from above, balancing the shields on their helmets, overlapping them. If necessary, the legionaries on the sides and rear of the formation could stand sideways or backwards with shields held as the front rows, so as to protect the formation's sides and rear; this reduced the speed and mobility of the formation, but offered consistent defensive strength against opposing infantry and excellent protection against arrows and other missile attacks.

While this tactic wouldn't have been effective against a modern army it worked well against the NCR because they had no air support and no artillery either by the looks of things, and those riot shields looked tough. Still grenades and rockets should have effective if used correctly. The Legion must have sent in a lot of men to soak up heavy weapons fire, and they could have other tricks up their sleeves.

Once I had a clear path I used my mind powers to roll across the ground a plasma grenade, one of the local party favours I'd picked up during my travels, and it rolled under the shields of the phalanx that was heading this way.

The Legion were surprised by the sudden counterattack, when they weren't dying or screaming in pain.

"I think that woke them up," I said, smiling behind my helmet "Now Triss and Buddy I need covering fire".

Buddy gave me an electronic bark while Triss simply nodded. Buddy has been upgraded so that out of his nose a laser beam could be fired.

"Stay behind me, but don't get to close" I said to the former Brotherhood scribe "Other than that watch your barriers and fist away".

By now the bot army was starting to arrive and they wouldn't waste their heavier weapons on the lower ranking Legion troopers. They'd used 9mm ammo and lasers, so any friendly fire would be dealt with by our barriers and armour, which between them could absorb energy of all kinds. Kinetic and otherwise. However the heavier weapons would have to be used on the turtle formations as those groups would be able to soak up a lot of fire power if the bots just used their lighter weapons so we still had to be careful for rockets.

I took out my Alien Blaster and started shooting. Watching with more than a little glee as Legion warriors were reduced to ash. I could hear Miranda speaking between shots, she was talking to our allies.

Most of the gangs were either dead or leaving the area, and Vegas was on lockdown thanks to the bots so the only players who could effect this battle, aside from the Legion and the NCR were on my side, even if some of them thought they'd allied with Mr House.

"Hey, Pearl?" I asked while casually blasting away another pair of Legionnaires who immediately turned to ash. "Did Cortana patch you through?".

I soon got an answer.

"Loud and clear, kid!" Pearl yelled, amid a constant droning buzz from the bomber's engines. "Loyal and I are commanding the Superfortress! We're in the air and on our way! ETA about two minutes!".

This greatly pleased me.

"Cortana let them know when to drop the bombs" I said "The Legion are used some old Roman tactics so have the bots focus their heavy weapons on the shield formations".

As the chaos continued to unfold, and I ripped through the Legionnaires like they were made out of tissue paper, their armour and shields were effective against the NCR, but they did nothing to stop my darksaber or my many powers.

I was just about to enter the inside of the dam when suddenly I heard a sound that drowned out the sporadic gunfire all around us. I looked up just in time to see the B-29 flying nearly directly over head.

With a metal command I made my helmet view zoom in so that I could see the bomb bay doors underneath the plane opened up, and dozens of bombs descended on the far side of the dam. I stuck around long enough to seem go boom before entering the massive structure.

The inside of the dam was like out of some gruesome video game, and it wasn't just the emergency lights, bathing everything in a solid sheen of red that made it seem chilling, no it was the blood and the bodies. The Legion was famous for its brutality and inside the dam they'd shown it.

Yet for me this fight was easy. Here I was, cutting through Legion warriors with my darksaber, with bullets unable to touch me due to my barriers. My technology made this too easy for me, but I wasn't foolish enough to try levelling the playing field. Honour didn't mean that much to me.

"The Legion is pulling back!" Miranda let me know.

That had been quick, but I didn't blame the men for fleeing, they were clearly outmatched.

"Use to bots to cut off the Legion's escape!" I ordered "But don't fire on anyone wearing rags and who has slave collar around their neck, or anyone not carrying a weapon. We aren't here to butcher people just to destroy the Legion".

In order to get the Independent Vegas I required for a victory both the Legion and the NCR needed to be driven out and I didn't want the Legion regrouping for another attack once I'd gone. The Legion needed to cease to exist. Hence why I had to go after the leaders soon enough. Then I could send the NCR packing.

When I got back to the surface I saw that a deathclaw covered in red war paint (or was that blood?) was charging down the path from the Legion side, coming straight for me with arms outstretched and claws unfurled. Somehow the Legion were able to control, or at least direct these fearsome creatures.

With the Force I struck the monster and it staggered back several feet from the impact, as it staggered I moved towards it at a blurring speed so that I could slash at its leg with my darksaber. It roared in fury and anger as I jumped over it, slashing one of the creature's horns off. Then I landed on behind the mutated animal and fired the alien blaster a few times until there was only ash left.

The horn I'd cut off soon found its way into my pouch of holding, a fine memento of this battle and should I ever wish to clone such a beast the horn would be a source of DNA.

There was another Death Claw, this was one even larger than the last, a female I assumed, perhaps they'd been a mating pair, not that this really mattered, and as it lumbered towards me I threw the Darksaber, carefully controlling it so that I removed the creature's entire head before bringing the deactivated weapon to my hand. I'd gotten very good with that trick over my lives.

"Holy shit!" Veronica shouted.

I assumed that she'd been on about the move I'd just made only then she pointed off in the distance.

"Look! Up at the Fort!" she called out.

I followed her gaze, and my eyes went wide. Unless I was very much mistaken, the Fort was already on fire. Now it was the Legion's turn to be in full retreat, and by the looks of things my bots were already at the Fort taking it down.

"The NCR is regrouping" Miranda let me know "Some of their elite troops are heading to the Fort".

As I'd expected.

"Stay here" I ordered the Scribe, who'd tired herself out trying to keep up with me.

With the speed of the wind I ran to the Fort and when I got there I couldn't tell if the Legion was retreating anymore or not. For every Legionnaire I saw turning tail just to get cut down by securitron laser fire, I saw just as many trying to dig in, however their crude rifles couldn't damage the bots.

The sky was so full of ash and smoke that it looked as night had come early, and the few Legion warriors who dared to charge me got cut down by my darksaber. I barely even paid them any attention.

"There should be a Legion leader nearby" I said over the comm "He's mine to deal with. No one is to touch him".

Before long I found him, a figure shrouded in darkness and smoke. He was a bronze metal giant, just as massive as the power armoured men of the Brotherhood.

This was Legate Lanius. Once Lanius had been a member of a tribe hostile to Caesar's Legion, the Hidebarks, and Lanius was the bloodthirsty champion of that tribe, sometimes ambushing entire groups of legionaries by himself. Caesar's Legion tracked down the Hidebarks, and since they knew that they would not be able to win against Caesar, they chose to surrender.

Lanius saw this act as a betrayal of the tribe against him and it drove him into a bloodthirsty frenzy; killing the Chieftain and fifteen others of his own tribe single-handedly before he was knocked unconscious.

When Lanius woke up, most of his face was torn off and Caesar was standing beside him. He offered Lanius a place in the Legion and a mask forged in the image of the great god Mars specifically for him.

For reasons of his own Lanius accepted Caesar's proposal, but in return he wanted permission to kill the survivors of his old tribe. Caesar demanded that he only kill the adult males, which Lanius agreed to.

Since this time, Lanius had led Caesar's Legion to victory over nineteen tribes and had led the conquest of Colorado. Now his conquests would come to an end.

"An envoy of Vegas, yet you carry yourself for battle" said the Legate. "If so, you cannot truly be of that city of cowards!".

Well I wasn't.

"It's over" I told the giant of a man "You've lost".

He didn't seem to believe me.

"The West shall fall as the East fell" said the Legate "and all the tribes that stretch to the setting sun shall bear the mark of the Legion".

Given that he was standing in a burning Legion camp that was rapidly filling with my bots I had to question his view of the situation.

"All evidence suggests otherwise" I said

"Enough words!" he shouted "Come, Man of the West"

Lanius pointed his massive sword directly at me.

"Let me see the best you can muster before you die" he finished by saying.

I could have just shot him, or squeezed the life out of the man with the power of the Force, or killed him in a number of other ways before he got close enough to try to kill me, but I didn't.

Within me there was some honour so I let him have a death in battle and I made it quick since I did have other things to do this day. I cut his weapon in half, and yet this didn't slow him down as he attempted to beat me death with the half still in his hand. The man's strength was impressive, but he lacked my speed, and soon I drove my darksaber into his chest, destroying his heart.

At the point the giant of a man dropped the ground and a moment later I removed his helmet. He was just a human under it, not at all special aside from great size and physical strength. Still he'd been brave so I took his helmet so that I would have something to remember this warrior by.

As the bots moved on to clear out the last of the Legion I began to hear a new noise, that of marching boots got louder and louder. Eventually, the owners of the footsteps emerged from behind one of the walls and into view. It was a platoon of NCR Rangers in their famous armour. With them was a man who wore a General's uniform, complete with peaked cap, an officer's long coat, and four stars on his collar.

"No one make any move until I order it" I said over the comm "Cortana get the bots here and surrounded the place while I talk to the NCR General, and tell the Wanderer to bring his ship down here so that everyone can see it. This should all be over very soon".

I took off my helmet and met General halfway. He surveyed the carnage all around us, and let out a satisfied whistle. If he was intimated my appearance he didn't let it show, although I could sense the fear he was covering up.

"Been a long time since I've seen the kind of work you've laid down here today," he said, taking as if we were allies "Damn long time. And the screams of those Legion bastards as they kicked dirt, running east. Like a choir of angels to my ears!".

The man lit up a cigar

"Could use a hundred of you!" he continued by saying "Just scatter you over the East like jacks, give those plumed fucks the what-for! Its a shame you work for House".

While I didn't it was good that he'd think that as by now Cortana would be restoring Mr House. Once we were gone, and Jump Chain came an end, he'd have access to his systems again, the ones we'd improved greatly upon. Hopefully he'd use them wisely, and if he didn't well that really wasn't my problem.

At this point a lot securitrons all seemed to appear from nowhere. The Rangers felt very nervous, as they realised their escape route was now effectively cut off. Oliver's eyes went wide in confusion and alarm.

"And... uh..." he struggled to say. "Well. These, uh... are these boys with you?"

He cleared his throat and moved closer to me. Maybe he thought they wouldn't fire if they were worried about collateral damage? He cleared his throat again, and started to reach into his coat as he spoke. I sensed no threat despite this.

"The dam was won for Vegas" I stated "The NCR was already in full retreat by the time I showed up, so I'd say you and the Legion have both lost. I suggest you leave before my 'boys' open fire on your men".

Oliver dropped the cigar in his hands, he looked at me with a mixture of shock and indignation. His mouth curled into a snarl, and his brow furrowed as he made a nasty scowl. Of course the git wasn't going to do this the easy way.

"This is your only chance, General" I told the man "Leave or die".

He obviously wasn't used to people disregarding him so easily.

"Do you really want to do this, sonny? You really think I'm gonna make tracks out of here, head back west with my tail between my legs with nothing to show for it?" he said "No. I came for a fight today, and if you're lookin' to make me budge, then you better have something more than some old robots".

I did in fact, and by now the alien mothership started to become visible.

"Didn't you see Boomers fly in their fully armed B-29?" I said "That was just one of my allies. I also know the guy flying that".

General Oliver's jaw dropped, and all the colour seemed to drain from his face.

"That ship has teleporters" I told the military man "and a death ray which can destroy this entire fort in a single blast. All I have to do is signal them and they'll beam me up to that ship before levelling this entire place".

By now more bots were here.

"And I have a lot of robots" I told him "An army of them. I don't need your cooperation to make Vegas independent I just need you to leave or die".

Any long terms problems caused by this were for Mr House to deal with.

"Do you know what you're doing? Making a nation, like you think you're doing, ain't a walk in the park, boy. Think you got the guts to carve out a frontier? Build towns, protect the roads, run supplies, train troops?"

I just laughed as again that wasn't my problem, and I'd built entire unions of worlds in some Jumps. Forging an Independent Vegas had taken me mere days. If I could be bothered to do ten years here I'd be running the planet by the end and it would be a restored Earth not a wasteland.

"Leave General" I ordered "Either now or in thirty seconds while in a body bag".

The man swore, but he did back off, and before long there was a change in secrecy.

(Line Break)

**Cosmic Warehouse. Outside of Reality.**

"So that's it" I said to the group "When Jump Chain ends Mr House will have an Independent Vegas to rule over".

Everyone was now back in the warehouse having been transported here at the end of the Jump.

"So now we go to the next world" Veronica asked me.

Despite having info on Jump Chain downloaded into her head by Jump Chan she felt uncertain about what would happen next.

"Not right away" I told her "We get a few days to plan and relax. You need to met the rest of the group, and I'll spend some time telling you about the MCU universe we're going to. Once there you can explore that world or even check out space if so desire".

My plans for the MCU wouldn't require all eight companion slots to be filled so I'd let Triss and Veronica explore this new world or go off into space with Seven of Nine to check out the MCU galaxy, which I felt sure contained much advanced tech.

The advantage of having such fast ships was that I could spend a weekend checking out some alien planet and be back on Earth fork work on Monday at the casino or for any tasks SHIELD had for me.

Oddly Seven dying had made me feel better about letting my girls go off on their own more as I now I knew for certain that as long as I was fine they would be no matter what happened to them. If they got kidnapped or lost I'd be able to find them as they would have subspace locators placed in their bodies soon enough. I'd take some time to talk to them all about that. If they died it wouldn't last for long.

"So for now everyone relax and enjoy yourselves" I ordered "You all did a great job".

While I went to let the magic users out of stasis everyone else headed to the apartments that were part of the Warehouse in order to unwind. Soon I would join them as I too wanted to kick back and relax.

Also at some point soon I should have sex with Triss so that she could become a proper part of the harem. Then I could talk to her and Veronica about same sex relationships within the harem. Hopefully they'd accept my rules.


End file.
